CONVERSIONS, PHYSICAL CONSTANTS, AND UNITS

Length:
1 inch (in) 2.54 centimeters (cm) exactly
1 Ioot (It) 0.305 meters (m)
1 yard (yd) 0.914 meters (m)
1 mile (mi) 5280 Ieet (It) 1.61 kilometers (km)
1 centimeter (cm) 0.394 inches (in)
1 meter (m) 100 centimeters (cm) 39.4 inches (in) 3.28 Ieet (It) 1.09 yards
(yd)
1 kilometer (km) 1000 meters (m) 0.621 miles (mi)
1 rod 16.5 Ieet (It) 5.5 yards (yd) 5.03 meters (m)
1 astronomical unit (AU) 1.50 x 10
8
kilometers (km) 9.29 x 10
7
miles (mi)
1 light year (LY) 9.461 x 10
12
kilometers ( km) 5.88 x 10
12
miles (mi) 0.307
parsec
1 parsec approximately 3.26 light years (LY)
Area length x width
1 square inch (in
2
) 0.00694 square Ieet (It
2
6.45 square centimeters, cm
2

1 square Ioot, (It
2
) 144 square inches (in
2
0.0929 square meters, m
2

1 square yard (yd
2
1296 square inches (in
2
9 square Ieet (It
2
0.836 square
meters (m
2

1 square mile (mi
2
640 acres 2.59 square kilometers (km
2

1 acre 160 square rods 43,560 square Ieet (It
2
) 0.405 hectares
1 hectare 10,000 square meters (m
2
100 ares 2.47 acres
1 square rod 30,25 square yards (yd
2
25.29 square meters (m
2

1 are 100 square meters (m
2
0.01 hetares 119.6 square yards (yd
2

Volume length x width x height
1 cubic inch (in
3
) 0.000579 cubic Ieet (It
3
) 16.4 cubic centimeters (cm
3
)
1 cubic Ioot (It
3
) 1728 cubic inch (in
3
) 0.0283 cubic meters (m
3
)
1 cubic yard (yd
3
) 27 cubic Ieet (It
3
) 4.65 x 10
4
cubic inch (in
3
) 0.765 cubic
meters (m
3
)
1 cubic meters (m
3
) 106 cubic centimeters (cm
3
) 1,000 liters (L) 35.3 cubic
Ieet (It
3
)
1 quart (qt) 2 pints (pt) 946 milliliters (mL) 0.946 liters (L)
1 gallon (gal) 4 quarts 231 cubic inch (in
3
) 3.79 liters (L)
1 liter (L) 1000 cubic centimeters (cm
3
) 1.06 quarts (qt) 0.265 gallons (gal)
Mass
1 slug 14.6 kilograms (kg)
1 kilogram (kg) 1,000 grams 0.0685 slugs
1 atomic mass unit (: 1.66 x 10
-27
kilogram (kg) 1.66 x 10
-24

1 electron mass 9.11 x 10
-31
kilogram (kg) 9.11 x 10
-28
grams (g) 5.46 x 10
-
4
atomic mass unit (:)
1 proton mass 1.00728 atomic mass unit (:)
1 neutron mass 1.00866 atomic mass unit (:)
Conversion Between Weight and Mass on Earth
A slug is the mass unit in the British system and is equal to 32.2 pounds (lb)
A kilogram weighs 9.81 newtons (N) or 2.21 pounds (lb)
A mass oI one (1) gram (g) weighs 981 dynes or 0.0353 ounces (oz)
A one (1) ounce weight has a mass 28.4 grams (g) or 0.0284 kilograms (kg)
A one (1) pound weight has a mass oI 454 grams (g) or 0.454 kilograms (kg)
A metric ton has a mass oI 1,000 kilograms (kg)
A one (1) ton (regular) weight has a mass oI 2,000 pounds (lb)
Velocity and Speed distance/time
1 It/s (It s
-1
) 0.305 m/s (m s
-1
)
1 mi/hr (mi hr
-1
) 1.47 It/s (It s
-1
) 1.61 km/hr (km hr
-1
) 0.447 m/s (m s
-1
)
1 m/s (m s
-1
) 100 cm/s (cm s
-1
) 3.28 It/s (It s
-1
)
1 km/hr (km hr
-1
) 0.278 m/s (m s
-1
) 0.621 mi/hr (mi hr
-1
) 0.912 It/s (It s
-1
)
Speed oI light in a vacuum 3.00 x 10
8
m/s (m s
-1
) 3.00 x 10
10
cm/s (cm s
-1
)
186,000 mi/s (mi s
-1
)
Speed oI sound in air at 0
o
C (32
o
F) 331 m/s (m s
-1
) 1090 It/s (It s
-1
) 41 mi/hr
(mi hr
-1
)
Acceleration velocity / time
1 It/s
2
0.305 m/s
2
30.5 cm/s
2

1 mi/hr/s 1.47 It/s
2
1.61 km/hr/s 0.447 m/s
2

1 m/s
2
100 cm/s
2
3.28 It/s
2

Acceleration due to gravity on Earth 9.81 m/s
2
981 cm/s
2
32.2 It/s
2

Force mass x acceleration
1 lb 16 oz 4.45 newtons (N)
1 N (kg m/s
2
) 0.223 lb
Temperature
o
F 9/5 x
o
C 32
o
C (
o
F - 32) x 5/9
Absolute Temperature, kelvin, K
o
C 273.15
0 K -273.15
o
C -459.72
o
F
Normal Body Temperature 98.6
o
F
Pressure Force/Area
1 Pascal, Pa 1 N/m
2
1.45 x 10
-4
lb/in
2

1 bar 105 N/m
2
14.50 lb/in
2

1 atmosphere, atm 760 mm Hg 76.0 cm Hg 760 torr 14.50 lb/in
2

1.01325 x 10
5
N/m
2
(or Pa)
Air pressure at sea level is approximately 1 atm 1 bar 105 N/m
2
(or Pa)
14.50 lb/in
2

Water pressure increases 9810 N/m
2
Ior each meter oI depth or 0.433 lb/in
2
Ior each
Ioot oI depth
Work and Energy or Heat Work Force x parallel distance
1 joule, J 0.738 It . lb 107 ergs
1 calorie, cal 4.18 J 0.00442 British Thermal Units, Btu
1 Ioot pound, It . lb 1.36 J
1 Btu 252 cal 778 Itlb 1.054 x 103 J
1 electron Volt, eV 1.602 x 10
-19
J
931.5 million electron volts,MeV is equivalent to 1 atomic mass unit, :
Power Work/time
1 horse power, hp 550 Itlb/s 0.746 kilowatts, kW 746 W
1 Watt, W 1 J/s 0.738 Itlb/s 0.00134 hp
1 Btu/hr 0.293 W
1 kW 1.34 hp
Radioactivity
1 curie 3.70 x 10
10
disintegrations/second 3.70 x 10
10
bequerels
SI BASE UNITS
Physical Quantity Name oI Unit Symbol
Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Electric current ampere A
Luminous
intensity
candela cd
Amount oI
substance
mole mol

SI PREFIXES
MACRO

MICRO
Factor PreIix Symbol

Factor PreIix Symbol
10
18
exa E

10
-1
deci d
10
15
peta P

10
-2
centi c
10
12
tera T

10
-3
milli m
10
9
giga G

10
-6
micro
10
6
mega M

10
-9
nano n
10
3
kilo k

10
-12
pico p
10
2
hecto h

10
-15
Iemto I
10
1
deka da

10
-18
atto a