Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

per-unit system
a dimensionless system for expressing each quantity in terms of a fractional part of a "base" value, often the nominal or rated value of the system. Typical electrical calculations require four base quantities (voltage, current, impedance, and apparent power), any two of which may be chosen arbitrarily. The per-unit system greatly simplifies calculations in electrical systems containing transformers with non-unity turns ratios, making the voltage differences transparent.