CHAPTER 6

Dimensions, Units and Unit

Conversions
MEC 400 –
INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING
AND PROBLEM SOLVING
 The magnitude of physical quantities can be understood only when they are
compared with predetermined reference amounts, called units.

 Examples of physical quantities:

length, mass, time, force, velocity, acceleration, momentum,
pressure, energy or work, power, torque, electric current and
voltage, heat, magnetic flux, luminance, concentration, and etc.
 Dimensions: used to describe physical quantities and are independent of
units

Physical Dimension Possible unit

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

 Types of dimension: fundamental and derived

 Fundamental dimension
◦ Dimension that can be conveniently and usefully manipulated when
expressing physical quantities of particular field.
 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 (θ) is added.

 Derived dimensions
◦ Combinations of fundamental dimensions.
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
F = (M)(L)(T)-2

 A dimensional system can be defined as the smallest number of

fundamental dimensions that will form a consistent and complete
set for a field of science.
 The absolute system has as its fundamental dimensions L, T and M.
Adv:comparison of masses at various location can be made-no gravitational effect

 The gravitational system has as its fundamental dimensions L, T and

F.
Adv: simplify computation when weight is fundamental qty in computations
 Quantity Absolute Gravitational
Length L L Two basic dimensional system
Time T T-
Mass M FL-1T2
Force MLT-2 F
Velocity LT-1 LT-1
Pressure ML-1T-2 FL-2
Momentum MLT-1 FT
Energy ML2T-2 FL
Power ML2T-3 FLT-1
Torque ML2T-2 FL

 Dimensional Analysis - 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)
=> p = ML-1T-2

Work: W = (force)(distance)
=> W = (M)(L)(T)-2(L) or ML2T-2
 Throughout the world, there are several systems of units in use. The most
common systems of units are International System (SI) and US Customary
System(USCS) .

International System of Unit (SI)

 Basis for worldwide standardization of measurements.

 Divided 3 classes of units:

1. Base units-7
2. Supplementary units-2
3. Derived units-combine base +supplementary +other derived units
 Table of base units

Quantity Unit Name Unit

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

 Table of supplementary units

Quantity Unit Unit Symbol
Name
Plane angle radian rad
Solid angle steradian sr
 Table of some derived units

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*.
 Unit Symbols and Names
1. Periods should never be used after symbols unless symbol is at end of
sentence.SI units symbols are not abbreviations.
2. Unit symbols are written in lower case(unless symbol from proper
name).
Lowercase Uppercase
M,kg,s,mol K,A,Hz,Pa

3. Symbols rather than self-styled abbreviations should be used to

represent units.
Correct Not correct
A amp
s sec
4. Never add s to symbol to indicate plural
5. Add a space between numerical value and unit symbol.
Correct Not correct
56.8 km 56.8km
765 Pa 765Pa

6. No space between prefix and unit symbol and unit name.

Correct Not correct

Mm,MΩ K m, µ F

7. When writing unit names, all letters are lowercase except beginning of
sentence
8. Plurals are used as required when writing unit names,e.g:henries (plural
for henry) except for below units:
- lux, hertz, siemens (same for singular and plural)
 9. Symbol should be used in preference to unit name because symbols are
standardized.(except when number is written in words preceding unit).
e.g: ten meters, not ten m

 Multiplication and Division.

1. Use space/hypen when write unit names. Eg: Newton meter or Newton-
meter
2. When a quotient is expressed using unit names, always use the word
“per” and a space between them- not a slash (/).

Correct Not correct

Meter per second Meter/second

3. When unit names require a power, a modifier such as squared or cubed

are employed.
Correct Not correct
Millimeter squared Square millimeter
 4. Writing products and quotients using symbols, the center dot ( ⋅ ) and
the slash ( / ) are used respectively.
Correct
N.M for Newton meter

5. When denoting a quotient by unit symbols, any of following methods are

accepted form:
or m/s or ms-1

 Numbers
1. To denote decimal poiunt, use period on line. When expressing numbers
less than 1, a zero should be written before decimal marker.E.g: 14.7,
0.03
2. Add space to group or separate digits of 3.

Correct and recommended procedure

6.718 234 78 657 2 456 0.343 81
 Since many unit systems have been used around the world, we need to
know how to convert the units from one system to another system.
 Some of the important and frequently used conversion factors are
given in the tables below.

English SI 1 ft = 12 inch
1 ft 0.3 048 m 1 mi = 5280 ft
1 lbm 0.4 536 kg 1 slug = 32.2 lbm
1 lbf 4.448 N
1 slug 14.59 kg
1 yd = 3 ft
1oR 5 1 kip = 1000 lbf
K
9 1 Btu = 777.65 ft.lbf

Numerical relationship between SI and English units Relationships between certain quantities in English system