Standard Abbreviations and Symbols for Units

Symbol Unit Symbol Unit

A ampere K kelvin
u atomic mass unit kg kilogram
atm atmosphere kmol kilomole
Btu British thermal unit L liter
C coulomb lb pound
8C degree Celsius ly lightyear
cal calorie m meter
d day min minute
eV electron volt mol mole
8F degree Fahrenheit N newton
F farad Pa pascal
ft foot rad radian
G gauss rev revolution
g gram s second
H henry T tesla
h hour V volt
hp horsepower W watt
Hz hertz Wb weber
in. inch yr year
J joule V ohm

Mathematical Symbols Used in the Text and Their Meaning

Symbol Meaning
5 is equal to
; is defined as
2 is not equal to
~ is proportional to
, is on the order of
. is greater than
, is less than
..(,,) is much greater (less) than
< is approximately equal to
Dx the change in x
N

a xi the sum of all quantities xi from i 5 1 to i 5 N

i51

|x| the absolute value of x (always a nonnegative quantity)

Dx S 0 Dx approaches zero
dx
the derivative of x with respect to t
dt
'x
the partial derivative of x with respect to t
't

3 integral
Conversions

Length Force
1 in. 5 2.54 cm (exact) 1 N 5 0.224 8 lb
1 m 5 39.37 in. 5 3.281 ft 1 lb 5 4.448 N
1 ft 5 0.304 8 m
Velocity
12 in. 5 1 ft
3 ft 5 1 yd 1 mi/h 5 1.47 ft/s 5 0.447 m/s 5 1.61 km/h
1 yd 5 0.914 4 m 1 m/s 5 100 cm/s 5 3.281 ft/s
1 km 5 0.621 mi 1 mi/min 5 60 mi/h 5 88 ft/s
1 mi 5 1.609 km Acceleration
1 mi 5 5 280 ft
1 m/s2 5 3.28 ft/s2 5 100 cm/s2
1 mm 5 1026 m 5 103 nm
1 ft/s2 5 0.304 8 m/s2 5 30.48 cm/s2
1 lightyear 5 9.461 3 1015 m
Pressure
Area
1 bar 5 105 N/m2 5 14.50 lb/in.2
1 m2 5 104 cm2 5 10.76 ft2
1 atm 5 760 mm Hg 5 76.0 cm Hg
1 ft2 5 0.092 9 m2 5 144 in.2
1 atm 5 14.7 lb/in.2 5 1.013 3 105 N/m2
1 in.2 5 6.452 cm2
1 Pa 5 1 N/m2 5 1.45 3 1024 lb/in.2
Volume
Time
1 m3 5 106 cm3 5 6.102 3 104 in.3
1 yr 5 365 days 5 3.16 3 107 s
1 ft 3 5 1 728 in.3 5 2.83 3 1022 m3
1 day 5 24 h 5 1.44 3 103 min 5 8.64 3 104 s
1 L 5 1 000 cm3 5 1.057 6 qt 5 0.035 3 ft 3
1 ft 3 5 7.481 gal 5 28.32 L 5 2.832 3 1022 m3 Energy
1 gal 5 3.786 L 5 231 in.3 1 J 5 0.738 ft ? lb
Mass 1 cal 5 4.186 J
1 Btu 5 252 cal 5 1.054 3 103 J
1 000 kg 5 1 t (metric ton)
1 eV 5 1.602 3 10219 J
1 slug 5 14.59 kg
1 kWh 5 3.60 3 106 J
1 u 5 1.66 3 10227 kg 5 931.5 MeV/c 2
Power
1 hp 5 550 ft ? lb/s 5 0.746 kW
1 W 5 1 J/s 5 0.738 ft ? lb/s
1 Btu/h 5 0.293 W

Some Approximations Useful for Estimation Problems

1 m < 1 yd 1 m/s < 2 mi/h
1 kg < 2 lb 1 yr < p 3 107 s
1 N < 14 lb 60 mi/h < 100 ft/s
1 L < 14 gal 1 km < 12 mi
Note: See Table A.1 of Appendix A for a more complete list.

The Greek Alphabet

Alpha A a Iota I i Rho R r
Beta B b Kappa K k Sigma S s
Gamma G g Lambda L l Tau T t
Delta D d Mu M m Upsilon Y y
Epsilon E P Nu N n Phi F w
Zeta Z z Xi J j Chi X x
Eta H h Omicron O o Psi C c
Theta Q u Pi P p Omega V v