ENGINEERING UNITS

1.5

TABLE 1.4 SI Prexes

Factor 10 1015 1012 109 106 103 102 10 101 102 103 106 109 1012 1015 1018
18

Prex exa peta tera giga mega kilo hecto * deka * deci * centi milli micro nano pico femto atto

Symbol E P T G M k h da d c m n p f a

* Generally to be avoided. Source: From Rohsenow, Hartnett, and Ganic .2

Weights and Measures (now the National Bureau of Standards), by executive order, xed the values of the U.S. yard and pound in terms of the meter and kilogram, respectively, as 1 yd 3600 / 3937 m and 1 lb 0.453 592 4277 kg. By agreement in 1959 among the national standards laboratories of the English-speaking nations, the relations in use now are: 1 yd 0.9144 m, whence 1 in 25.4 mm exactly; and 1 lb 0.453 592 37 kg, or 1 lb 453.59 g (nearly).
4. English Units. The base units for the English engineering units are given in Table 1.6 (third column). The unit of force in English units is the pound force (lbf). However, the use of the pound mass (lb) and pound force in engineering work causes considerable confusion in the proper use of these two fundamentally different units. A clear understanding of the units of mass and force can be gained by examining Newtons second law of motion. With any system of units, a conversion factor gc must be introduced into the newtonian dynamics equation so that both sides of the equation will have the same units. Thus,

ma gc

in which the numerical value and units of gc depend on the units chosen for mass, force, length, and time. The units of pound mass and pound force are related by the standard gravitational acceleration, which has a value of 32.174 ft / s2. When a 1-lb mass is held at a location on the earths surface where the gravitational acceleration is 32.174 ft / s2, the mass weighs 1 lbf. With this system of units, the value of gc is determined as follows:
(continues on page 1.16)

5-68

CRC Handbook of Engineering Tables

International System (SI) Metric Units (continued)

Prex Names of Multiples and Submultiples of Units Decimal Equivalent 1,000,000,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,000,000 1,000 100 10 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.000 001 0.000 000 001 0.000 000 000 001 0.000 000 000 000 001 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 Prex tera giga mega kilo hecto deka deci centi milli micro nano pico femto atto Pronunciation
t era j iga

Symbol T G M k h da d c m m n p f a

Exponential Expression 10+12 10+9 10+6 10+3 10+2 10 101 102 103 106 109 1012 1015 1018

m ega k ilo h ekto

d eka d es i s ent i m il i mi kro

no na p eko mto fe tto a

Denitions of the Most Important International System (SI) Units The ampere (unit of electric current) is the constant current that, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of innite length, of negligible circular sections, and placed 1 meter apart in a vacuum, will produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 107 newton per meter of length. The candela is the luminous intensity, in the direction of the normal, of a blackbody surface 1/600,000 square meter in area, at the temperature of solidication of platinum under a pressure of 101,325 newtons per square meter. The coulomb (unit of quantity of electricity) is the quantity of electricity transported in 1 second by a current of 1 ampere. The ephemeris second (unit of time) is exactly 1/31 556 925.974 7 of the tropical year of 1900, January, 0 days, and 12 hours ephemeris time. The fraud (unit of electric capacitance) is the capacitance of a capacitor between the plates of which there appears a difference of potential of 1 volt when it is charged by a quantity of electricity equal to 1 coulomb. The henry (unit of electric inductance) is the inductance of a closed circuit in which an electromotive force of 1 volt is produced when the electric current in the circuit varies uniformly at a rate of 1 ampere per second. The International Practical Kelvin Temperature Scale of 1960 and the International Practical Celsius Temperature Scale of 1960 are dened by a set of interpolation equations based on the following reference temperatures: K Oxygen, liquid-gas equilibrium Water, solid-liquid equilibrium Water, solid-liquid-gas equilibrium Water, liquid-gas equilibrium Zinc, solid-liquid equilibrium Sulfur, liquid-gas equilibrium Silver, solid-liquid equilibrium Gold, solid-liquid equilibrium 90.18 273.15 273.16 373.15 692.655 717.75 1233.95 1336.15 Deg C 182.97 0.00 0.01 100.00 419.505 444.6 960.8 1063.0

The joule (unit of energy) is the work done when the point of application of 1 newton is displaced a distance of 1 meter in the direction of the force. The kelvin (unit of thermodynamic temperature) is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. The decision was made at the 13th General Conference on Weights and Measures on October 13, 1967, that the name of the unit of thermodynamic temperature would be changed from degree Kelvin (symbol: K) to kelvin (symbol: K). The name (kelvin) and symbol (K) are to be used for expressing temperature intervals. The former convention that expressed a temperature interval in degrees Kelvin or, abbreviated, deg K is dropped. However, the old designations are acceptable temporarily as alternatives to the new ones. One may also express temperature intervals in degrees Celsius.

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