gauss, unit of magnetic induction in the centimetre-gram-second system of physical units. One gauss corresponds to the magnetic flux density that will induce an electromotive force of one abvolt (10-8 volt) in each linear centimetre of a wire moving laterally at one centimetre per second at right angles to a magnetic flux. One gauss corresponds to 10-4 tesla (T), the International System Unit. The gauss is equal to 1 maxwell per square centimetre, or 10−4 weber per square metre. Magnets are rated in gauss. The gauss was named for the German scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Before 1932 the name was applied to the unit of magnetic-field strength now called the oersted, and it is sometimes still used in this sense (e.g., the Earth may be said to have a magnetic-field strength of about one gauss).