Topic summary
QES
Extracted from the Wikipedia article History of the metric system.
Quadrant–eleventhgram–second (QES) or International System of Electrical and Magnetic Units
The CGS units of measure used in scientific work were not practical for engineering, leading to the development of a more applicable system of electric units especially for telegraphy. The unit of length was 10 m (the hebdometre, nominally the Earth quadrant), the unit of mass was an unnamed unit equal to 10 g and the unit of time was the second. The units of mass and length were scaled incongruously to yield more consistent and usable electric units in terms of mechanical measures. Informally called the "practical" system, it was properly termed the quadrant–eleventhgram–second (QES) system of units according to convention.