Units,

45 Conversions and
Symbols

Contents
45.1 Introduction 45/3
45.1.1 Units 45/3
45.1.2 Conversion factors 45/3
45.1.3 Properties of materials 45/3
45.1.4 Mathematical relations and
trigonometrical functions 45/3

45.2 International unit system 45/3

45.2.1 Base units 45/3
45.2.2 Supplementary units 45/3
45.2.3 Notes 45/3
45.2.4 Derived units 45/4
45.2.5 Decimal multiples and submultiples 45/4
45.2.6 Common variations and auxiliary units 45/4

45.3 Conversion factors 45/5

45.3.1 Systeme International and imperial units 45/5
45.3.2 Systeme International and US units 45/6

45.4 Symbols 45/6

45.4.1 Greek alphabet 45/6

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45.1 Introduction
45.1.1 Units
The Systeme International (SI) system of units used throughout
this book is the standard system used throughout Europe and
many other countries in the world. It was first accepted at an
international conference in 1960 and, in 1971, a directive by the
European Economic Community required the existing imperial
and metric CGS systems to be replaced by SI.
The definitions of, and the symbols for, SI units are given in
sections 2.1.1 to 2.1.5.
Although, in time, it can be expected that there will be strict
adherence to the SI units given in sections 2.1.1 to 2.1.5, there
are at present some cases in which, for convenience or because
of previously established practice, the units are varied or auxili-
ary units are introduced. The most common variations are given
in section 2.1.6 and it should be noted that they do not represent
a serious departure from the SI system.
45.1.2 Conversion factors
Section 2.2.1 and, in particular, Table 2.4 gives conversion
factors between most common imperial and SI units, together
with the reciprocals. Section 2.2.2 draws attention to some
differences between imperial and US units.
45.1.3 Properties of materials
For information on the properties of materials, the reader is
referred to the appropriate earlier chapter, as follows:
Aluminium Chapter 14
Bituminous materials Chapters 23 and 24
Concrete Chapters 4, 12 and 37
Masonry Chapter 15
Paint Chapter 4
Plastics Chapter 4
Reinforcement Chapter 12
Rock Chapter 10
Rubber Chapter 4
Soil Chapter 9
Timber Chapter 16
45.1.4 Mathematical relations and trigonometrical
functions
Mathematical relations commonly employed in civil engineering
work, including those for statistical applications, are given in
Chapter 1.
The reader is referred to any of the standard works which
evaluate mathematical relations and provide tables of trigono-
metrical functions for more detailed information.
45.2 International unit system (Sl)
The SI is a metric system giving a fully coherent set of units for
science, technology and engineering, involving no conversion
factors. The starting point is the selection and definition of a
minimum set of independent 'base' units. From these, 'derived'
units are obtained by forming products or quotients in various
combinations, again without numerical factors. For con-
venience, certain combinations are given shortened names. A
single SI unit of energy (joule = kilogram metre-squared per
second-squared) is, for example, applied to energy of any kind,
whether it be kinetic, potential, electrical, thermal, chemical...
thus unifying usage throughout science and technology.
The SI system has seven base units, and two supplementary
units of angle. Combinations of these are derived for all other
units.
45.2.1 Base units
Definitions of the seven base units have been laid down in the
following terms. The quantity symbol is given in italic, the unit
symbol (with its standard abbreviation) in roman type. As
measurements become more precise, changes are occasionally
made in the definitions.
(1) Length: /, metre (m) The metre was defined in 1983 as the
length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during a
time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
(2) Mass: m, kilogram (kg). The mass of the international
prototype (a block of platinum preserved at the Internatio-
nal Bureau of Weights and Measures, Sevres).
(3) Time: t, second (s) The duration of 9 192 631 770 periods
of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the
two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133
atom.
(4) Electric current: i, ampere (A) The current which, main-
tained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length,
of negligible circular cross-section and 1 m apart in vacuum,
produces a force equal to 2 x 10~ 7 N/m length.
(5) Thermodynamic temperature: T, kelvin (K) The fraction
1/273.16 of the thermodynamic (absolute) temperature of
the triple point of water.
(6) Luminous intensity: /, candela (cd) The luminous intensity
in the perpendicular direction of a surface of 1/600 000 m2 of
a black body at the temperature of freezing platinum under
a pressure of 101 325 N/m2.
(7) Amount of substance: Q, mole (mol) The amount of
substance of a system which contains as many elementary
entities as there are atoms in 0.012kg of carbon-12. The
elementary entity must be specified and may be an atom, a
molecule, an ion, an electron . . . or a specified group of such
entities.
45.2.2 Supplementary units
Plane angle: : a, ft, . . . radian (rad) The plane angle between
two radii of a circle which cuts on the circumference of the circle
an arc of length equal to the radius.
Solid angle: Q, steradian (sr) The solid angle which, having its
vertex at the centre of a sphere, cuts off an area of the surface of
the sphere equal to a square having sides equal to the radius.
45.2.3 Notes
Temperature At O K, bodies possess no thermal energy. Speci-
fied points (273.16 and 373.16 K) define the Celsius (centigrade)
scale (O and 10O0C). In terms of intervals, I 0 C= 1 K. In terms of
levels, a scale Celsius temperature 9 corresponds to
(9 + 273.16) K.
Force The SI unit is the newton (N). A force of 1 N endows a
mass of 1 kg with an acceleration of 1 m/s2.
Weight The weight of a mass depends on gravitational effect.
The standard weight of a mass of 1 kg at the surface of the Earth
is 9.807 N.
45.2.4 Derived units
All physical quantities have units derived from the base and
supplementary SI units, and some of them have been given
names for convenience in use. Base, supplementary and some of
the derived units are listed in Table 45.1.
Table 45.1 Systeme International base, supplementary and derived
units
42.2.5 Decimal multiples and submultiples
Decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units are indicated by
the prefix letters given in Table 45.2. Thus, MN is meganewton
and us is microsecond. Prefixes for the kilogram are expressed in
terms of the gram, i.e. 1000kg= 1 Mg, not 1 kkg. There is a
preference to express stress as 1 N/mm2 instead of 1 MN/mm2.
Table 45.2 Decimal prefixes

Quantity Unit name Derivation Unit Factor by which Prefix

symbol unit is multiplied Name Symbol

1018 exa E
Base
length Metre m 1015 peta P
mass Kilogram kg 1012 tera T
time Second s 109 giga G
electric current Ampere A 106 mega M
thermodynamic Kelvin K 103 kilo k
temperature 102 hecto h
luminous intensity Candela cd 10' deca da
amount of Mole mol 10 ' deci d
substance 10 2 centi c
10 3 milli m
Supplementary
plane angle Radian rad 10 6 micro u,
solid angle Steradian sr 10 9 nano n
Derived 10 l2 pico p
force Newton kgm/s 2 N 10 15 femto f
pressure, stress Pascal N/m 2 Pa 10 18 atto a
energy Joule N m, W s J
power Watt J/s W 45.2.6 Common variations and auxiliary units
electric charge, Coulomb As C
flux The main variations that are commonly applied to civil engi-
magnetic flux Weber Vs Wb neering are:
electric potential Volt J/C V Stress expressed as N/mm instead of pascals (Pa) (1 N/mm
magnetic flux Tesla Wb/m2 T = 1 MN/m= IMPa)
density Pressure, e.g. underwater, expressed as bar instead of pascals
resistance Ohm V/A Q (1 bar= 10OkPa, 1 mbar = 0.1 kPa)
inductance Henry Wb/A, Vs/A H Temperature expressed as 0C (Celsius or centigrade) instead
capacitance Farad C/V, A s/V F of K (kelvin) (O0C = 273.16K, 10O0C = 373.16 K)
conductance Siemens A/V S Mass expressed as tonne instead of kilograms (kg)
frequency Hertz s ' Hz ( I t =1000 kg)
luminous flux Lumen cd sr Im
illuminance Lux lm/m2 Ix Some of the common variations from the strict SI system are
radiation activity Becquerel s ' Bq listed in Table 45.3 and are here termed 'auxiliary' units.
absorbed dose Gray J/kg Gy
mass density Kilogram per Table 45.3 Auxiliary units
cubic metre kg/m3
dynamic viscosity Pascal-second Pa s Quantity Symbol SI
concentration Mole per cubic
metre mol/m3 Angle
linear velocity Metre per second m/s degree (°) TC/180 rad
linear acceleration Metre per second- minute (') — —
squared m/s2 second (") - -
angular velocity Radian per second rad/s Area
angular Radian per second- acre a 100 m2
2
acceleration squared rad/s hectare ha 0.01 km2
torque Newton metre Nm barn barn 10 28 m2
current density Ampere per square
metre A/m 2 Energy
resistivity Ohm metre Qm erg erg 0.1 uJ
conductivity Siemens per metre S/m calorie cal 4.186 J
thermal capacity Joule per kelvin J/K electron-volt eV 0.160 aJ
specific heat Joule per kilogram gauss-oersted GaOe 7.96 uJ/m3
capacity kelvin J/(kg K)
thermal Watt per metre Force
conductivity kelvin W/(m K) dyne dyn 10 uN
luminance Candela per square
Length
metre cd/m2 Angstrom A 0.1 um
Table 45.3 (continued) Table 45.4 (continued)
Quantity Symbol SI Imperial SI Reciprocal
Mass Imile/h 0.4470 m/s 2.2370
tonne t 1000 kg !knot 0.5144 m/s 1.9440
Ideg/s 17.45mrad/s 0.0573
Nucleonics, Radiation Irev/s 6.283 rad/s 0.1590
becquerel Bq 1.0 s"1 lft/s 2 0.3048 m/s2 3.2810
gray Gy 1.0 J/kg
curie Ci 3.7 x 10'° Bq Mass (kg)
rad rd 0.01 Gy 1 oz 28.35 g 0.0353
roentgen R 2.6x10« C/kg 1 Ib 0.454 kg 2.2000
Icwt 50.80kg 0.0197
Pressure 1 UK ton 1016 kg 0.9840 x 10~ 3
bar b 100 kPa
torr Torr 133.3 Pa Energy (J), Power (W)
lftlbf 1.356 J 0.737
Time IBtu 1055 J 0.948 x l O 3
minute min 60 s 1 therm 105.5 kJ 9.478 x 10"3
hour h 3600 s IkWh 3.60 MJ 0.278
day d 86400 s IBtu/h 0.293 W 3.413
Iftlbf/s 1.356 W 0.737
Volume lhp 745.9 W 1.34IxIO3
litre lor L 1.0 dm3
Thermal quantities (W, J, kg, K)
lBtu/(ft 2 h) 3.155 W/m2 0.3170
1 Btu/(ft3 h) 10.35 W/m3 0.9660
45.3 Conversion factors 0
1 Btu/(ft h F) 1.731 W/(m K) 0.5780
Iftlbf/lb 2.989 J/kg 0.3340
45.3.1 Systeme International and imperial units 1 Btu/lb 2326 J/kg 0.430OxIO3
Although SI is now the standard system in use throughout IBtu/ft 3 37.26 KJ/m3 0.0268
Europe and much of the rest of the world, imperial units are 1 ft lbf/(lb 0F) 5.380 J/(kg K) 0.1860
used occasionally in some specialized areas and many publica- 1 Btu/(lb 0F) 4.187 kJ/(kg K) 0.2390
30
tions prior to about 1980 were in imperial units. 1 Btu/(ft F) 67.07 kJ/m3 K 0.0149
Conversion factors between SI and imperial units are given in Density (kg/m3)
Table 45.4. Column 1 gives the imperial units, column 2 the SI lib/in 3 27.68 Mg/m3 0.0361
equivalent and column 3 the reciprocal. lib/ft 3 16.02 kg/m3 0.0624
1 ton/yd3 1329 kg/m3 0.7520 x IQ- 3
Table 45.4 Conversion factors: imperial to Sl
Flow rate (kg/s, m3/s)
Imperial SI Reciprocal llb/h 0.1260g/s 7.9360
1 ton/h 0.2822 kg/s 3.5440
Length (m) 1 Ib/s 0.4536 kg/s 2.2046
in 25.40 mm 0.0394 Ift 3 /h 7.866 cm3/s 0.1270
ft 0.3048m 3.2800 Ift 3 /s 0.0283 m3/s 35.3360
yd 0.9144m 1.0940 Igal/h 1.263cm3/s 0.7920
fathom 1.829m 0.5470 Igal/min 75.77 cm3/s 0.0312
mile 1.6093km 0.6210 Igal/s 4.546 dm3/s 0.2200
nautical mile 1.852km 0.5400
Force (N), pressure (Pa)
Area (m2) ldyn 10.OuN 0.1000
lin 2 645.2mm 2
1.550OxIO- 3
1 lbf 4.445 N 0.2250
lft2 0.0929m2 10.7600 ltonf 9.964 kN 0.1004
lyd 2 0.8361m2 1.2000 1 lbf/ft 2 47.88 Pa 0.0209
!acre 4047m2 0.247OxIQ- 3 llbf/in 2 6.895 kPa 0.1450
2
lmile 2 2.590km2 0.3860 1 tonf/ft 107.2 kPa 9.3280 x 10~ 3
1 tonf/in 2 15.44 MPa 0.0648
Volume (m3) linHg 3.386 kPa 0.2950
1 in3 16.39 x 103 mm3 0.0610 x 10~ 3 1 inH2O 149.1 Pa 6.707Ox 10~ 3
1 ft3 0.0283 m3 35.300
lyd 3 0.7646m3 1.310 Torque (N m)
I U K gal 4.546dm3 0.220 1 lbf in 0.113Nm 8.8490
4
1 lbf ft 1.356Nm 0.7370
Second moment of area (m ) ltonf ft 3.307 kNm 0.3020
lin 4 416 x l O 3 mm4 2.40 x 10~6
Inertia (kg m2)
Velocity (m/s, rad/s) Momentum (kg m/s, kg m2/s)
Acceleration (m/s2, rad/s2) lib in2 0.293 gm2 3.4130
Ift/s 0.3048 m/s 3.2800
Table 45.4 (continued) cal and other applications in civil engineering. Table 45.5 gives
the Greek alphabet in the form used throughout the text of this
Imperial SI Reciprocal book.

l i b ft2 0.0421 kg m2 23.7530 Table 45.5 The Greek alphabet

1 ton ft2 94.30 kg m2 0.0106
llbft/s 0.138kgm/s 7.2460 Capital Lower case Name English
1 Ib ft 2 /s 0.042 kg m2/s 23.8100 transliteration

Viscosity (Pa s, m2/s) A a alpha a

1 poise 9.807 Pa s 0.1020 B P beta b
llbfs/ft 2 47.88 Pa s 0.0209 F y gamma g
1 lbf h/ft 2 172.4 kPa s 5.8000 x 10~ 3 A 6 delta d
1 stokes I.0cm2/s 1.0000 E E epsilon e
Iin 2 /s 6.452 cm2/s 0.1550 Z C zeta z
Ift 2 /s 929.0 cm2/s 1.076OxIO3 H r\ eta e
9 6 theta th
Illumination (cd, Im) / / iota i
llm/ft 2 10.76 lm/m2 0.0929 K K kappa k
led/ft 2 10.76 cd/m2 0.0929 A A lambda 1
1 cd/in2 1550 cd/m2 0.645 x IQ- 3 M n mu m
TV v nu n
E £ xi x
45.3.2 Systeme International and US units O o omicron o
United States units differ from imperial units in respect of liquid n n pi p
measurement and mass. P p rho r
E a sigma s
1 US gal. = 0.8332 imperial gal. (reciprocal 1.200) T i tau t
= 3.788 dm3 (reciprocal 0.264) Y D upsilon u
= 3.7881 <P <f> phi ph
1 US long ton =1.02Ot (SI) X x chi kh
I U S short ton = 0.9091 (SI) V if/ psi ps
(1 imperial ton = 1.0161 (SI) Q oj omega 6

45.4 Symbols
45.4.1 The Greek alphabet
Although very little use is made of Greek letters for symbols in
SI, the Greek alphabet is, of course, widely used in mathemati-