To help you understand all about the natural units you will encounter on the Ethereum blockchain, we have written this guide.
The Ethereum blockchain does not support point numbers that are not associated with ongoing transactions or blockchain processes. Instead, the blockchain utilizes the active numbers in the system. However, these numbers cannot be processed without being represented as integers.
That said, natural units are the integers that represent numbers in the Ethereum blockchain. So, the natural unit represents one unit of the entity in question.
What Are the Features of Natural Units?
Before explaining the features of natural units, it is essential to point out that you will often come across two natural unit formats. They are-
- ETH Natural Units
- Token Natural Units
ETH Natural Units
This is the most common format of natural units you will come across on the ETH blockchain. It is easy to spot because of its distinct features.
You will often see the context written as ETH Natural Units in the text. It is the basic representation that follows the representation of natural units in a text.
Here is how to spot these natural units- they are a set of numbers with 18 decimal points that represent 1 ETH.
For example, 1 ETH= 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, which is also referred to as a wei.
Token Natural Units
The tokens are also represented by a natural unit. In this case, when looking at smart contracts involving tokens, you will often see one token represented by this- {x} natural units.
Equating Both Natural Unit Formats
The ETH and token natural units are equal. Therefore, the two entities can be represented as 1 token natural unit = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10^18).
We also have a our own Ethereum Wiki Page with a lot of Articles.
