CLB 10904

CHEMICAL PROCESS PRINCIPLES

TUTORIAL 1B (Basic Concepts)

Dimension Homogeneity & Dimensionless Quantities

1. Which one of the following quantities is dimensionless?
a) 68
o

b) sin (68
o
)
c) e
68

d) Force
e) 6
f) Frequency
g) Log (0.0034)

2. Determine the dimensions of the following quantities.
a) Volume
b) Acceleration (velocity/time)
c) Density (mass/volume)
d) Force (mass x acceleration)

3. What are the dimensions of the following?
a) 3
b) Height
c) Frequency
d) Area x volume
e) Displacement
f) 0.5 x volume

4. Determine if the following equations are dimensionally correct.
a)

Where:
X is the displacement at time t
X
o
is the displacement at time t=0
V
o
is the velocity at time t=0
a is the constant acceleration

b)

Where:
N
d
and N
a
are number of particles
V is volume
g is gravitational acceleration
h
d
is distance
is density
k is Boltzmans constant with SI units (J/K)
T is absolute temperature

c) E = mc
2

Where:
E is energy (J)
m is mass
c is speed of light

5. Explain in detail whether the following equation for flow through a rectangular weir is
dimensionally consistent.

0.415 0.2

.
2

Where:
q is volumetric flowrate, ft
3
/s
L is crest height, ft
h
o
is weir head, ft
g is acceleration gravity, 32.2 ft/s
2


6. Consider the equation

D (ft) = 3t(s) + 4

a) If the equation is valid, what are the dimensions of the constant 3 and 4?
b) If the equation is consistent in its unit, what are the units of 3 and 4?
c) Derive an equation for distance in meters in terms of time in minutes.