Introduction to Engineering and

Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 1

What is dimension?
Does dimension has a unit?
Is it important to write a unit?
How can I convert a quantity from one unit system to the other?
Why is it important to have consistency in dimensions and units?

 CHAPTER 3 : DIMENSIONS, UNITS, AND UNIT CONVERSIONS

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Physical Quantities
3.2 Dimensions and Dimensional Analysis
3.3 Units
3.4 SI Units and Symbols
3.5 Rules for Using SI Units
3.6 Conversion of Units
Tips and Motivation
Worksheets
Exercises 3.0

3.0 INTRODUCTION

Engineers are always concerned with measurements and manipulations of fundamental

physical quantities such as length, mass, time, temperature, and etc. When specifying a
physical quantity, we are not only interested in its numerical value but also in its unit. In
engineering, a number without a unit is meaningless since an infinite variety of units can
be associated with it. Misunderstanding or confusion about unit can be very costly!

3.1 PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

In engineering, there are several fundamental and derived physical quantities which are
of our concerned. They are length, mass, time, force, velocity, acceleration, momentum,
pressure, energy or work, power, torque, electric current and voltage, heat, magnetic
flux, luminance, concentration, and etc.

4-1
 Introduction to Engineering and
2 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

3.2 DIMENSIONS AND DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

Dimensions. Dimensions are a set of symbols used to describe physical quantities and
are independent of units. A large number of possibilities for units can be used with one
particular dimension. Some examples of dimensions and their associated units are given
in table3.1 below.

Table3.1: Dimensions and their possible units.

Physical Quantity Dimension Possible unit
Length L meter, feet, mile
Mass M kilogram, slugs, pound-
Time T mass
Force F second, hour, day
Density M / L3 Newton, pound-force
Power FL/ t kg/m3, g/cm3
Volume L3 watt, ftlbf/s
m3, in3

3.2.1 Types of Dimensions

3.2.1.1 Fundamental Dimensions. A set of fundamental (or primary) dimensions is

a group of dimensions that can be conveniently and usefully manipulated when
expressing all physical quantities of a particular field or system.

Absolute system: L, M, and T or LMT as its fundamental dimensions.

Gravitational system: L, F, and T or LFT as its fundamental dimensions.

A dimensional system is defined as the smallest number of fundamental dimensions

which will form a consistent and complete set of dimensions for a field of science.

For example, three fundamental dimensions are necessary to form a complete

mechanical dimensional system, namely, length (L), mass (M), and time (T). If
temperature is important, then a fourth dimension, temperature () is added.

3.2.1.2 Derived dimensions. Derive dimensions are dimensions obtained through a

combination of fundamental dimensions. For example,

Velocity is derived from length and time as

v = (L)(T)-1

Force (using absolute system) is derived from length, mass, and time as

4-2
Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 3

F = (M)(L)(T)-2

3.2.2 Dimensional Analysis

It is a manipulation of fundamental dimensions to express the new derived dimensions or

to get consistent dimensions for all terms in the equations. In other words, the equation
must be dimensionally homogeneous at every stage in the manipulation.

Example:
Pressure: p = (force)/(area)

( M )( L)(T ) 2
=> p=
L2
p = ML-1T-2

Work: W = (force)(distance)

=> W = (M)(L)(T)-2(L) or ML2T-2

Work or energy: Total work = Potential energy + Kinetic energy.

=>

3.3 UNIT SYSTMS

There are two fundamental systems of units commonly used in the engineering practice
today. They are

1. Metric System (or Systeme’ Internationale d’Unites - SI units). This system is

based on meter, kilogram, and second as fundamental units. It is the most widely
used in the world nowadays.

2. British Gravitational System or United States Customary System of Units

(USCS). It is based on foot, pound-force, and second as fundamental units.

3.4 SI UNITS AND SYMBOLS

The metric system is further divided into three classes of units:

1. Base units. There are seven base units in the SI system.

2. Supplementary units. There are only two units.
3. Derived units. There are quite a number of units.

4-3
 Introduction to Engineering and
4 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

Base units:

Table 3.1: SI base units.

Quantity Unit Name Unit Symbol
Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Electric current ampere A
Thermodynamic temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd

Supplementary units.

Table 3.2: Supplementary units in SI.

Quantity Unit Name Unit Symbol
Plane angle radian rad
Solid angle steradian sr

Derived units.

Table 3.3: Some of the derived units in SI.

Quantity Unit Name Unit Symbol Base unit
Frequency hertz Hz s-1
Force. newton . N. kg.m.s-2
Pressure or Stress. pascal. Pa. kg.m-1.s-2
Energy or Work . joule . J. kg.m2.s-2
Power. watt. W. kg.m2.s-3
Electric charge. coulomb . C. A.s
Electric potential. volt. V. W/A*.
Electric conductance . siemens . S. A/V*.
Magnetic flux. weber. Wb. V.s*
Inductance . henry . H. Wb/A*.

*
It is a formula not SI base unit.

3.5 RULES IN USING SI UNIT

The following rules should be observed when using SI unit.

4-4
Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 5

1. Periods should never be used after the symbols unless the symbol is at the end of a
sentence. Symbols in SI unit are not abbreviations.

2. Unit symbols should be written in lower case letters unless the unit name is from the
name of a person.

Examples:

Unit Symbol
meter m
pascal Pa
kilogram kg
watt W
newton N

3. An s is not added to the symbol to indicate plural.

Examples:

Quantity Correct Wrong

10 meters 10 m 10 ms
100 pascals 100 Pa 100 Pas
2 kilograms 2 kg 2 kgs
0.5 milliseconds 0.5 ms 0.5 mss

4. When writing a unit name completely, one should use all letters in lower case, even
if the unit name is from a proper name, except at the beginning of the sentence.

Example: Newton is a unit name for a force.

A unit name for a force is newton.

5. When unit names are written as a product, always use a space (preferred) or a
hyphen.

Example: newton meter or newton-meter

6. When a quotient is expressed using unit names, always the word “per” and a space
between them is used and not a slash (/).Example:

Correct Wrong
meter per second meter/second
kilogram per cubic meter kilogram/cubic meter

4-5
 Introduction to Engineering and
6 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

7. When writing products and quotients using symbols, the center dot (  ) and the slash
( / ) are used respectively. Example:

Unit name Unit symbol

meter per second m/s or ms-1
kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3 or kgm-3
newton meter Nm
kilogram meter per second kgm/s

In more complicated cases, negative powers or parentheses should be used. For

example, m/s2 or ms-2 and not m/s/s.

8. When unit names require a power, a modifier such as squared or cubed are
employed. Example:
meter per second squared square millimeter
kilogram per cubic meter kilogram per meter cubed

9. Whenever the values of certain quantities are very large or very small, one should
use prefixes. Some of the common multipliers, their prefixes, and symbols are given
in the table3.4 below.

Table3.4: Multipliers and Their Prefixes in SI units

Prefix name Symbol Multiplier
tera T 1012
giga G 109
mega M 106
kilo k 103
hecto h 102
deka da 101
deci d 10-1
centi c 10-2
milli m 10-3
micro  10-6
nano n 10-9
pico p 10-12

Example:
285 000 N 285 kN
0.000 067 m 67 m
2 490 000 Pa 2.49 MPa
1.573 x 10-9 s 1.573 ns

4-6
Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 7

10. There should be a space between a number and its unit, and no space between a
prefix and a unit symbol. Example:

Correct Incorrect
0.000 067 m or 67 m 0.000 067m or 67  m
2.49 MPa 2.49 M Pa or 2.49MPa
8.97 mm 8.97 m m
13.0 F 13.0F

11. The unit symbol should be used in preference to the unit name because unit symbols
are standardized. Exception is when a number is written in words preceding the
units. Example:

Correct Incorrect
10 m 10 meters
ten meters ten m

12. When writing unit names, plurals are used as required. Example:

Singular Plural Incorrect

henry henries henry or henrys
one kilogram two kilograms two kilogram

Exception:
Singular Plural
lux lux
hertz hertz
siemens siemens

13. In writing unit names and using prefixes, there should be no hyphen or a space left
between a prefix and a unit name. Example:

Correct Incorrect
nanometers nano meters
gigapascals giga-pascals

Exception where the final vowel in the prefix is omitted:

megohm
kilohm
hectare

4-7
 Introduction to Engineering and
8 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

3.6 CONVERSION OF UNITS

Some of the important and frequently used conversion factors are given in the table3.5
and3.6 below. The details of the conversion factors are given in Appendix A.

Table 3.5: Numerical relationship between SI and English units

English SI
1 ft 0.3 048 m
1 lbm 0.4 536 kg
1 lbf 4.448 N
1 slug 14.59 kg
5
K
1oR 9

Table 3.6: Relationships between certain quantities in English system

1 ft = 12 inch
1 mi = 5280 ft
1 slug = 32.2 lbm
1 yd = 3 ft
1 kip = 1000 lbf
1 Btu = 777.65 ft.lbf

For temperature in degree Fahrenheit and degree celsius, a formula must be used for
conversion since they represent the measures of relative temperature. The following
formulas may be used for temperature conversion:

9 5
F = C + 32 OR C = (F – 32)
5 9
K = C + 273.15

R = F + 459.67

In dealing with unit conversions, systematic procedures are suggested in order to

minimize the possibility of making errors. These procedures are better illustrated
through the following examples:

4-8
 Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 9

Example 3.1: A car has a speed of 54.5 mi/h. Determine the speed of the car in m/s.

Solution:

We form an array as follows (note that the dimension of the velocity is L / T)

54.5 mi 5280 ft 0.3048 m 1h = 24.4 m

h 1 mi 1 ft 3600 s s

Comment: It is observed that in all columns except the first one, the equivalent values of
the units in the two different systems are given.

Remark: when dealing with long conversion factors, it is suggested that the dimension of the final
result be checked for its consistency. In the above example, the velocity has a dimension
of L / T which can have a unit of mi/h or m/s.

There are occasions when you have to manipulate an equation and determine the
appropriate unit of certain constants or variables. To do this, dimensional analysis may
help you gain the insight of the equation and thus, suitable conversion factors may be
selected.

Example 3.2: A 200-N force is applied on a rectangular plate with dimensions of 0.2 m
and 0.5 m. Determine the pressure on the plate in Ibf/in2 (or psi).

Solution:

F
A pressure is given by p = where F = force and A = area
A

200 N N
p 2
= 200 or Pa
0.2 x 0.5 m m2

2000 N 1 lbf (0.3048 m)2 (1 ft)2 = 0.290 lbf

m2 4.448 N (1 ft)2 (12 in)2 in2

Comment: lbf/in2 is normally expressed as psi. How about kips?

4-9
 Introduction to Engineering and
10 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

Example 3.3: The rating of a machine is specified by the number K. Machine A has K
equals to 500 Btu/h. What is the equivalent rating in SI base units.

Solution: Note that the equivalent rating must be in SI base units!!!

K = 500 Btu/h

500 Btu 1 054.35 J 1 Nm 1 kgm/s2 1h = 146.4 kgm2

h 1 Btu 1J 1N 3600 s s3

Comment: A more appropriate unit for K in the SI system is watt or J/s.

Example 3.4: A universal gas constant R for a gas is related by an equation p = RT
where p is a pressure in pascals, T is a thermodynamic temperature in kelvin,  is a
density of a gas in kilograms per cubic meters. Determine the dimension of R in terms of
F, M, L, and . Knowing that R for one particular gas is 287 Nm/(kgK), determine the
corresponding value of R so that p is in lbf/ft2, T is in oR, and  is in lbm/ft3.

Solution:

From p = RT , rearrange for R yields

p ( F / L2 ) FL
R= => 3
=
T ( M / L )( ) M

Nm
R = 287
kg  K

287 Nm 1 lbf 1 ft 0.4 536 kg 1K = 53.3 lbfft

kgK 4.448 N 0.3 048 m 1 lbm 1.8 oR lbmoR

Comment: Notice that the dimension of R is consistent with its unit, regardless of which
system of units is used. The process to get the dimension of R is called dimensional
analysis.

4-10
Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 11

Worksheet 3.1: Convert the following quantities as specified. Report your final
answers with the correct number of significant digits.

a) 120.5 m to ft c) 470 K to oC e) 120 km/h to m/s

b) 6.20 Pa to lbf/ft2 d) 27.8 oC to oR f) 9.4 MW to hp

Solution:

4-11
 Introduction to Engineering and
12 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

Worksheet 3.2: A velocity v of a particle moving with a constant acceleration a = 4.6

m/s2 at any time t is given by the equation v = v0 + at where v0 is its initial velocity.
Determine the velocity of this particle in km/h when t = 3 s and that v0 = 12.5 m/s.

Solution:

4-12
Introduction to Engineering and
Problem Solving
Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions 13

Worksheet 3.3: The ideal gas equation can be expressed as pV = mRT where m is mass
in kg, p is pressure in Pa, V is volume in m3, T is temperature in K, and R is the gas
constant in J/(kgK). Knowing that p = 40.0 MPa, V = 0.03 m3, and T = 480oC,
calculate the mass of air (R = 0.2870 kJ/(kgK)) contained in a closed rigid tank.

Solution:

4-13
 Introduction to Engineering and
14 Dimensions, Units and Unit Conversions
Problem Solving

Exercises 3.0: Dimensions and Units

1. Convert the following quantities to SI base units.

a) 20.22 in c) 88.0 ft/s e) 72.5 oF d) 137 hp

b) 1.5 x 102 gal d) 37.6 lbm f) 897 yd

2. Convert as specified.

a) 255 km to ft c) 300 K to oF e) 35.6 ftlbf to J

b) 78.34 Pa to lbf/ft2 d) 600 oR to oC f) 450 MW to hp

3. The Newton’s second law of motion is given by F = ma where F is a force in N, m is a

mass in kg, and a is an acceleration in m/s2. Knowing that a 1500-kg car is acted upon by
7.5 kN force, what is the resulting acceleration of the car in ft/s2.

4. What work is done to lift a 5.00(103) lbm object 15.0 ft vertically if the acceleration of
gravity is 9.81 m/s2? Express your answer in joules. Note that work is equal to the force
times the distance traveled in the direction of force.

5. The frictional energy loss per unit mass of a fluid lowing in a pipe is given by
L v2
hL = () ( )( )
D 2
where hL = energy loss per unit mass.
 = friction factor which is a dimensionless quantity.
L = length of the pipe.
D = diameter of the pipe.
v = average velocity of the fluid.

Determine hL in joules per kilogram for 165oF water flowing at 20.0 ft/s through a 1.00-in
diameter cast-iron pipe and 12.5 ft long. For this pipe,  is approximately 0.040.

6. The power capacity of an automobile clutch in kW is given by

2NT
P=
60000
where N is an angular speed in RPM and T is a torque transmitted in Nm. What is the
amount of torque transmitted when the clutch runs at 3850 RPM and generates 340 hp?

End of Chapter 3

4-14