Stere

File:Raummeter hg.jpg

The stere as a cubic metre of stacked firewood

The stere or stère (st) is a unit of volume in the original metric system equal to one cubic metre. The stere is typically used for measuring large quantities of firewood or other cut wood,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while the cubic meter is used for uncut wood.<ref>For example:{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name was coined from the Greek στερεός stereós, "solid", in 1795 in France as a metric analogue to the cord. The unit was introduced to remove regional disparities of this former unit, for which the length could vary greatly from 6 to 13.5 m. It is not part of the modern metric system (SI) and is no longer a legal unit in France, but remains used in the commerce of firewood.

Background

The correspondence between stere and cubic meters of stacked wood is imprecise because it depends on the length of the logs used and on how irregular they are. The stere corresponds to Template:Cvt of wood, made exclusively with logs of Template:Cvt in length, all stacked parallel and neatly arranged. If the logs are less than 1 m, the volume of visible wood decreases because the voids are better occupied. Thus the "stere" no longer corresponds to 1 m³, but to Template:Cvt for Template:Cvt logs, Template:Cvt for Template:Cvt logs and Template:Cvt for Template:Cvt logs.

In Dutch and German, a closely related unit called kuub (Dutch), short for kubieke meter, or "Kubikmeter" (German) which differs from a stere. Whereas a "kuub" or "Kubikmeter" is a solid cubic metre, as it was traditionally used for wood, a stere (in German: Raummeter) is a cubic metre pile of woodblocks. A stere or Raummeter is less than a kuub or full cubic metre of wood, because the spaces between the woodblocks are included in a stere, while they do not count towards a kuub or Kubikmeter. In Finnish, the same unit is known as motti (from Swedish mått, "measure").

The stere as used in contexts outside the timber industry is not subject to the same ambiguity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In particular, stere and kilostere are sometimes used in hydrology, as the kilostere (Template:Cvt or megalitre) is a slightly smaller metric analogue of an acre-foot (approximately Template:Cvt), similar to the relationship of the metric tonne to the short ton.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

See also

• Board foot
• Cord (unit)
• Cubic ton
• Faggot (unit)
• Forest product
• Hoppus
• List of metric units
• List of unusual units of measurement
• Petrograd Standard
• Units of measurement