Electric and Electronic Measurements

Lecture-3: Units and Dimensions

Dr. Omar A. Hafez

Electrical Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering & Islamic Architecture
Umm Al-Qura University
oahafez@uqu.edu.sa
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this Lecture, students should be able to:

▪ Discuss the fundamental of mechanical units in the SI
system and derived units.
▪ Define the dimensions of various quantities.
▪ Define and explain the types of measurement errors.
▪ Explain and apply measurement terms.

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 Introduction
▪ Before standard systems of measurement were invented,
many approximate units were used.

▪ With the development of science and engineering, more

accurate units had to be devised.

▪ It is necessary to establish a single system of units of

measurement that would be acceptable internationally
because of the increase of world trade and exchange of
scientific information.

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 Units
▪ Units of measurement define the definite magnitude of
physical quantity which adopt convention and law.
➢ e.g. Unit for physical quantity length is metre

▪ The International System of units (SI unit) is a form of

metric system and divided in 3 classes:

➢Base units
➢Derived units
➢Supplementary units
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 SYSTEMS OF UNITS
In the past, the systems of units most commonly used were
the English and metric.

Note that while the English system is based on a single

standard, the metric is subdivided into two interrelated
standards: the MKS and the CGS.

The MKS and CGS systems draw their names from the units
of measurement used with each system; the MKS system
uses Meters, Kilograms, and Seconds, while the CGS
system uses Centimeters, Grams, and Seconds.
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 Units

English

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 SI System
• SI stands for System International Units, i.e. the International
System of Units. SI is the abbreviation used in all languages to
indicate the system.
• The SI is constructed from seven base units, which are defined
in physical terms.
• By combining these units in accordance with simple geometrical
and physical laws, we can arrive at the derived units.
• In principle, the SI covers all application areas, although certain
units outside SI are so useful that they are accepted for general use
together with the SI (e.g degree, hour, day, minute).

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 Base Units (seven base units)
▪ Fundamental unit refers to quantity
NAME SYMBOL QUANTITY
Kilogram kg Mass
Second s Time
Meter m Length
Ampere A Electrical current
Kelvin K Temperature
Mole mol Amount of substance
Candela cd Luminous intensity
By combining these units in accordance with simple geometrical and
physical laws, we can arrive at the derived units.
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 Derived Units
▪ Derivation/further ext./combination . unit of base unit

Derived quantity Derived unit Symbol

Area Square meter m2
Volume Cubic meter m3
Speed, velocity Meter per second m/s
Acceleration Meter per second square m/s2
Angular velocity Radian per second Rad/s
Angular acceleration Radian per second square Rad/s2
Density Kilogram per cubic meter Kg/m3
Magnetic field intensity, Ampere per meter A/m
(Linear current density)
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 Derived Units
Derived quantity SI derived unit Symbol In SI In SI base units
name units
Frequency Hertz Hz 1/s
Force Newton N m·kg/s2
Pressure, stress Pascal Pa N/m2 kg/m·s2
Energy, work, heat quantity Joule J N/m m2 ·kg/s2
Power, radiant flux Watt W J/s m2 ·kg /s3
Electric charge Coulomb C s· A
Electric potential difference Volt V W/A m2 ·kg /s3 · A
Electric capacitance farad F C/V s4 · A2/m2 ·kg
Electric resistance ohm V/A m2 ·kg/ s3 · A2
Electric conductance Siemens S A/V s3 · A2/m2 ·kg
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 Supplementary Units
▪ Unit outside of SI but accepted
Quantity Unit Symbol Value in SI units
Time Minute, hour, day Min, h, d 1 min = 60 s
1 h = 60 min = 3600s
1 day = 24 h = 1440 min =
86400 s
Plane angle Degree, minute,
second, grad ̊ ’ ” 1 ̊ = (π/180) rad
1’ = (1/60) ̊ = (π/10 800) rad
gon 1” = (1/60) ’ =(π/648 000) rad
1 gon = (π/200) rad ;
400 gon = 360 ̊
Volume litre l, L 1 l = 1 dm3 = 10-3 m3
Mass Metric tonne t 1 t = 103 kg
Pressure in air, fluid bar bar 1 bar = 105 Pa
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 TABLE:
Comparison of the English and metric systems of units.

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 SI Mechanical Units
▪ Unit of Force: Newton (N)
➢ Force which will give a mass of 1 kg an acceleration
of 1 meter per second.

▪ Work: Joule (J)

➢ The work done in moving a body is the product of
the force and the distance through which the body is
moved in the direction of the force.

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 SI Mechanical Units
▪ Energy
➢ The capacity for doing work.
➢ Energy is measured in the same units as work.

▪ Power: Watt (W)

➢ The time rate of work done
➢ If a certain amount of work W is to be done in a time t, the
power required is

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SI Electrical Units

▪ Units of Current and Charge

➢ Current is the quantity of electricity that passes a
given point in a conductor during a time of 1 s.

▪ Voltage
➢ The potential difference between two points on a conductor
carrying a constant current of 1 ampere when the power
dissipated between these points is 1 watt.

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 SI Electrical Units
▪ Resistance and Conductance
▪ Conductance is the reverse of resistance.

▪ Unit : Siemens (S)

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17
Prefixes

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 Dimensions
▪ Parameter or measurement
used to describe some relevant
characteristic of an object.
▪ Dimensions is describing the
size or spatial characteristic of
an object: length, width, and
height .
▪ Also for other physical
parameters such as the mass 3-Dimension of gear system
and electric charge of an object.

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 Dimensions

▪ Uses symbol M (mass), L (length), T (time) – known as mech.

unit, Q (e’ charge), I - or A (current)

▪ A derived unit of physical quantity

▪ Example 1;
- Dimension of physical quantity SPEED is L/T (or in units
m/s, km/h, mph)

QUANTITY UNIT DIMENSION

SPEED m/s L/T

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 Dimensions
▪ Dimension of a physical quantity is the total of all units
attached to it.
▪For example, speed is given as distance x time;
meters/second (m/s) MKS and centimeters/second (cm/s) in
CGS system.
▪Dimension of measurement of speed ,
▪ [v] = [L]/[T]

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 Example
▪ Determine the dimensions of velocity, acceleration and
force.
▪ Solution:
▪ Velocity = length/time
[v] = [L]/[T] = [LT-1]

• Acceleration = velocity/time
[a] = [v]/[T] = [LT-1]/[T1] = [LT-2]

• Force = mass × acceleration

[F] = [M] • [LT-2] = [MLT-2]
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Dr. Omar A. Hafez

oahafez@uqu.edu.sa 23