Converting Units: Examples

ProcessExamples

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The useful aspect of converting units (or "dimensional analysis") is in doing non-standard
conversions. While you can find many standard conversion factors (such as "quarts to
pints" or "tablespoons to fluid ounces"), life (and chemistry and physics classes) will throw
you curve balls. Learn some basic conversions (like how many feet or yards in a mile), and
you'll find yourself able to do many interesting computations.

For instance:

Suppose an object is moving at 66 ft/sec. How fast would you have to drive a car in
order to keep pace with this object?

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A car's speedometer doesn't measure feet per second, so I'll have to convert to some
other measurement. I choose "miles per hour". I know the following
conversions: 1 minute = 60 seconds, 60 minutes = 1 hour, and 5280 feet = 1 mile.
(Yes, I've memorized them. You should, too!)

If 1 minute equals 60 seconds (and it does), then

The fact that the conversion can be stated in terms of "1", and that the conversion ratio
equals "1" no matter which value or unit is on top, is crucial to the process of cancelling
units.
 I have a measurment in terms of feet per second; I need a measurement in terms of
miles per hour. To convert, I start with the given value with its units (in this case, "feet
over seconds") and set up my conversion ratios so that all undesired units are
cancelled out, leaving me in the end with only the units I want.

They gave me something with "seconds" underneath so, in my " 60 seconds

to 1 minute" conversion factor, I'll need the "seconds" on top to cancel off with what
they gave me. This will leave "minutes" underneath on my conversion factor so, in my
"60 minutes to 1 hour" conversion, I'll need the "minutes" on top to cancel off with the
previous factor, forcing the "hour" underneath. Since I want "miles per hour" (that is,
miles divided by hours), things are looking good so far.

They gave me something with "feet" on top so, in my "5280 feet to 1 mile" conversion
factor, I'll need to put the "feet" underneath so as to cancel with what they gave me,
which will force the "mile" up top. This is right where I wanted it, so I'm golden.

Here's what it looks like:

By setting up my conversion factors in this way, I can cancel the units (just like I can
cancel duplicated factors when I multiply fractions), leaving me with only the units I
want. Then I do the multiplication and division of whatever numbers are left behind, to
get my answer:

I would have to drive at 45 miles per hour.

How did I know which way to put the ratios? How did I know which units went on top and
which went underneath? I didn't. Instead, I started with the given measurement, wrote it
down complete with its units, and then put one conversion ratio after another in line, so
that whichever units I didn't want were eventually cancelled out. If the units cancel
correctly, then the numbers will take care of themselves.

If, on the other hand, I had done something like, say, the following:
...then nothing would have cancelled, and I would not have gotten the correct answer. By
making sure that the units cancelled correctly, I made sure that the numbers were set up
correctly too, and I got the right answer. This "setting factors up so the units cancel" is a
crucial aspect of this process.

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
You are mixing some concrete for a home project, and you've calculated according
to the directions that you need six gallons of water for your mix. But your bucket
isn't calibrated, so you don't know how much it holds. On the other hand, you just
finished a two-liter bottle of soda. If you use the bottle to measure your water, how
many times will you need to fill it?

For this, I take the conversion factor of 1 gallon = 3.785 liters. This gives me:

= (6 × 3.785) liters = 22.71 L

Since my bottle holds two liters, then:

I should fill my bottle completely eleven times, and then once more to about
one-third capacity.

On the other hand, I might notice that the bottle also says "67.6 fl.oz.", right below where
it says "2.0L". Since there are 128 fluid ounces in one (US) gallon, I might do the
calculations like this:

= 11.3609467456... bottles
...which, considering the round-off errors in the conversion factors, compares favorably
with the answer I got previously.


You find out that the average household in Mesa, Arizona, uses about 0.86 acre-feet
of water every year. You get your drinking water home-delivered in those big five-
gallon bottles for the water dispenser. How many of these water bottles would have
to be stacked in your driveway to equal 0.86 acre-feet of water?

The conversion ratios are 1 acre = 43,560 ft2, 1ft3 = 7.481 gallons, and five gallons
= 1 water bottle. First I have to figure out the volume in one acre-foot. An acre-foot is
the amount that it would take to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot. How big
is 0.86 acres, in terms of square feet?

If I then cover this 37,461.6 ft2 area to a depth of one foot, this would give
me 0.86 acre-feet of water, or (37,461.6 ft2)(1 ft deep) = 37,461.6 ft3 volume of water.
But how many bottles does this equal?

= 56,050.04592.... bottles

...or about 56,000 bottles every year.

This works out to about 150 bottles a day. Can you imagine "living close to nature" and
having to lug all that water in a bucket? Thank heaven for modern plumbing!


You've been watching a highway construction project that you pass on the way
home from work. They've been moving an incredible amount of dirt. You call up the
information line, and find out that, when all eighty trucks are running with full
crews, the project moves about nine thousand cubic yards of dirt each day. You
think back to the allegedly "good old days" when work was all done manually, and
wonder how many wheelbarrowsful of dirt would be equivalent to nine thousand
cubic yards of dirt. You go to your garage, and see that your wheelbarrow is
labeled on its side as holding six cubic feet. Since people wouldn't want to overfill
their barrows, spill their load, and then have to start over, you assume that this
stated capacity is a good measurement. How many wheelbarrow loads would it
take to move the same amount of dirt as those eighty trucks?

The conversion ratios are 1 wheelbarrow = 6 ft3 and 1 yd3 = 27 ft3. Then I get:

= 40,500 wheelbarrows

Wow; 40,500 wheelbarrow loads!

Even ignoring the fact the trucks drive faster than people can walk, it would require an
amazing number of people just to move the loads those trucks carry. No wonder there
weren't many of these big projects back in "the good old days"!

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When you get to physics or chemistry and have to do conversion problems, set them up
as shown above. If, on the other hand, they just give you lots of information and ask for a
certain resulting value, think of the units required by your resulting value, and, working
backwards from that, line up the given information so that everything cancels off except
what you need for your answer.

For a table of common (and not-so-common) English unit conversions, look here. For
metrics, try here. Here is another table of conversion factors.

When I was looking for conversion-factor tables, I found mostly Javascript "cheetz" that
do the conversion for you, which isn't much help in learning how to do the conversions
yourself. But along with finding the above tables of conversion factors, I also found a table
of currencies, a table of months in different calendars, the dots and dashes of Morse
Code, how to tell time using ships' bells, and the Beaufort scale for wind speed.

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