GEEN 1211 Dimensions, Units

and Conversions

21/01/24
 Objectives

 Identify physical quantities in terms of

dimensions and units
 Understand the use of non-SI dimensional
systems (gravitational and absolute)
 Recognize base, supplementary and derived
SI units
 Apply appropriate SI symbols and prefixes
 Systematically convert units from one system
to another
 Apply dimensions, units and conversion rules
in the solution of engineering problems
 Physical quantities

 Engineers concerned with the measurements

of fundamental physical quantities such as
length, time, temperature, force etc.
 Magnitudes can be understood only when
they are compared with predetermined
reference amounts, called units
 Given length (L) as the physical quantity and
20.0 as the numerical value, with meters (m)
as the designated unit then it can be
expressed as
length (L) = 20.0 m
 Dimensions

 Dimensions are used to describe physical

quantity
 Dimensions are independent of units
 The physical quantity “length” can be
represented by the dimension, L
 There is a dimension for each physical
quantity such as T for time, F for force, M for
mass, etc.
 Dimensions are divided into two areas
fundamental and derived
 Dimensions

 A fundamental dimension that can be

conveniently manipulated when expressing
all physical quantities of a particular field of
science or engineering.
 Derived dimensions are a combination of two
or more fundamentals dimensions
e.g. Velocity (V) is considered as a
combination of fundamental dimensions
V= (L) (T)-1
L and T are fundamental dimensions and V is
a derived dimension
 Dimensions

 It is advantageous to use as few fundamental

dimensions as possible
 Selection of what is to be fundamental or
derived is not fixed
 A Dimensional system is defined as the
smallest number of fundamental dimensions
that form a complete set for a certain field
example: 3 fundamental dimensions are
necessary to form a complete mechanical
dimensional system, these are length (L),
time (T) and mass (M)
 Dimensions

 Absolute system: the dimensions used are

not affected by gravity. It is fundamental
dimensions L, T and M
 Gravitational system: its fundamental
dimensions L, T, and F. It is widely used in
engineering as it simplifies computations
when weight is a fundamental quantity
 Units

 Specific unit for each fundamental dimension

is needed
 The problem is there is a large number of
unit systems to choose from any given
dimensional system
 The SI is intended to serve as an
international standard that will provide
worldwide consistency
 Two basic dimensional systems

Quantity Absolute Gravitational

Length L L
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
 Units

 There are three fundamental systems of units

used today.
 The metric system used in every industrial
country is a decimal-absolute system based
on meter, kilogram and second (MKS)
 The two other systems of units are common
in the USA
1. US Customary system
2. Engineering system
both based on length(ft), force(lb) and
time(S)
 Units

 Numerous international conferences on

weights and measures over the past 40
years for various forms of metric systems to
be standardized
 SI is now considered the international system
of units
 USA has adopted this system but full
implementation not yet completed
 SI units and symbols

 SI developed and maintained by the General

Conference on Weight and Measures as a
basis for worldwide standardization of
measurements in 1960
 It divides into three classes of units:
1. Base Units
2. Supplementary units
3. Derived units
Base units

 There are seven base units in the SI

Quantity Name Symbol

length meter m

mass kilogram kg

time second s

electric current ampere A

thermodynamic temperature kelvin K

amount of substance mole mol

luminous intensity candela cd

 Base units

 Each of the base units were defined and

adopted at the general conferences, e.g.:
 The length. The meter (m) is a length equal
to the distance traveled by light in a vacuum
during 1/299792458 s.
 Temperature. The kelvin(K), a unit of
thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction
1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature
of the triple point of water
Supplementary units
 Regarded as either base or derived units
 The unit for plane angle is the radian (rad),
which is used frequently in engineering. The
steradian is not as commonly used

Quantity Name symbol

Quantity Name symbol
Plane angle Radian rad
Plane angle Radian rad
Soild angle Steradian sr
Soild angle Steradian sr
 Derived units

 Formed by combining base, supplementary or

other derived units
 Symbols for them are carefully selected to avoid
confusion
 Some additional derived units have no special SI
unit names or symbols such as area(m2),
accelaration (ms-2)
 Derived units
QUANTITY NAME SYMBOL

acceleration metre per second squared m/s²

angular acceleration radian per second squared rad/s²
angular momentum kilogram metre squared per second kg•m²/s
angular velocity radian per second rad/s
area square metre m²
density kilogram per cubic metre kg/m³
electric current density ampere per square metre A/m²
luminance candela per square metre cd/m²
magnetic field strength ampere per metre A/m
magnetic moment ampere metre squared A•m²
mass flow rate kilogram per second kg/s
mass per unit area kilogram per square metre kg/m²
mass per unit length kilogram per metre kg/m
molar mass kilogram per mole kg/mol
molar volume cubic metre per mole m³/mol
moment of inertia kilogram metre squared kg•m²
moment of momentum kilogram metre squared per second kg•m²/s
momentum kilogram metre per second kg•m/s
rotational frequency 1 per second s¯¹
specific volume cubic metre per kilogram m³/kg
velocity metre per second m/s
volume cubic metre m³
 Rules for using SI units

 To understand and properly apply the new

system
 Obsolete practices involving both English
and metric units are widespread
 Theses rules should be followed when
working with SI units
 Unit symbols and names

 Punctuation, periods are never used after SI

symbols unless at the end of a sentence.
proper: The length of the bar is 75 cm.
The bar is 75 cm long.
improper: The bar is 75 cm. long.
 Lowercase to write symbols unless it is
derived in upper case
lowercase: m, kg, s, mol, cd
uppercase: A, K, Hz, Pa, C
 Abbreviations: only standard unit symbols, prefix
symbols, unit names, and prefix names are used.
proper: s; cm3 or m/s
improper: sec; cc; mps
 An s never added to symbol for plural

proper: L = 75 cm, improper: L= 75 cms

 Space always left between value and symbol

45.9 km, 0.16 Pa and not 45.9km or 0.16Pa

Some exception when using angles, degrees of
temperature
 Multiplication and division

 When writing unit names as a product use space

or hyphen: newton meter or newton-meter
 When expressing quotient use per

meter per second and not meter/second

but with unit symbols the following is accepted
m/s or m.s-1
US Customary and engineering system

 Why is it necessary to consider any system

dimensions and units other than SI
 SI is ultimately intended to be adopted
worldwide
 US industrial complex regularly use other
systems
 Engineers in the USA will have to be
comfortable with a variety of unit systems
US Customary system

 Has fundamental units of foot(ft) for length,

pound(Ib) for force and second (s) for time.
Slug is a new derived unit.

Quality
Quality Unit
Unit Symbol
Symbol
Mass
Mass slug
slug slug
slug
Length
Length foot
foot ftft
Time
Time second
second ss
Force
Force pound
pound IbIb
Engineering system

 Uses length, time, mass and force as a

fundamental dimensions
 The pound (Ib) denotes both mass and force.
Ibm used for pound mass and Ibf used for
pound force.

Quality Unit Symbol

Quality Unit Symbol
Mass Pound-
Pound-mass Ibm
Mass Pound-
Pound-mass Ibm
Length Foot Ft
Length Foot Ft
Time Second S
Time Second S
Force Pound-
Pound-force Ibf
Force Pound-
Pound-force Ibf
Celsius, Fahrenheit and Absolute scale

 the Celsius or Fahrenheit scales are used in

daily life
 T(oF)= 9/5T(oC) + 32oF
 T(oC) = 5/9*[(T(oF) – 32)]
 Celsius, Fahrenheit and Absolute scale

 The Kelvin temperature scale (K) was

developed by Lord Kelvin in the mid 1800s
 The zero point of this scale is equivalent to -
273.16°C on the Celsius scale
 This zero point is considered the lowest
possible temperature of anything in the
universe
 T(oC) = T(K) – 273.15
 Conversion of Units

 Use the conversion table in Appendix A

 Convert 6.7 in to millimeters
 Solution: find multiplier from conversion table
which 2.54cm = 25.4mm
Therefore 6.7 in = 6.7 x 25.4 = 170.18 mm
= 1.7 x 102 mm
 Convert 98.6o F to oC
T(oC) = 5/9 *[(To(F) – 32] = 333/9=37oC
= 37.0oC
 Convert 85.0 Ibm/ft3 to kg/m3
= 85.0 x 0.453 6kg x 1/(2.831 7 x 10 -2)m3
= 1361.584914
= 1.36 x 103 kg/m3

 convert 195 kg/s to slugs per minute

= 195 x 6.8522 x 10-2 /(1/60)=801.7074
= 802 slugs/min