Dimensions, Units, and Their Conversion

Basic principle I First class Dr.
Arkan Jasim Hadi
CHAPTER 1
DIMENSIONS, UNITS,
AND THEIR CONVERSION
1.1 Units and Dimensions
1.2 Operations with Units
1.3 Conversion of Units and Conversion Factors
1.1-1 What Are Units and Dimensions and How Do They Differ?
Dimensions are our basic concepts of measurement such as length, time, mass,
temperature, and so on; units are the means of expressing the dimensions, such as feet
or centimeters for length, and hours or seconds for time.
In this book you will use the two most commonly used systems of units:
1. SI, formally called Le Systeme Internationale d' Unites, and informally called
SI or more often (redundantly) the SI system of units.
2. AE, or American Engineering system of units, not to be confused with what is
called the U.S. Conventional System (USCS) nor the English system of units.
The SI system has certain advantages over the AE system in that fewer names are
associated with the dimensions, and conversion of one set of units to another is easier,
but in the United States the AE system has deep roots. Most modem computer
programs (e.g., process simulators) allow the use of either or mixed sets of units.
Dimensions and their respective units are classified as fundamental or derived:
• Fundamental (or basic) dimensions/units are those that can be measured
independently and are sufficient to describe essential physical quantities.
Primary dimensions include:

Mass [M], length [L], time [t], temperature [T]
• Derived dimensions/units are those that can be developed in terms of the
fundamental dimensions/units.
Secondary dimensions can be expressed in terms of

primary dimensions and include:
Velocity [V], Energy [E] , Volume [V ] etc. .
Basic principle I First class Dr. Arkan Jasim Hadi
Tables 1.1 and 1.2 list both basic, derived, and alternative units in the SI and AE
systems. Figure 1.1 illustrates the relation between the basic dimensions and
1.2-1 Addition,
Subtraction, Equality
You can add, subtract, or equate numerical quantities only if the associated units of
the quantities are the same. Thus, the operation
5 kilograms + 3 joules
cannot be carried out because the units as well as the dimensions of the two terms are
different. The numerical operation
10 pounds + 5 grams
can be performed (because the dimensions are the same, mass) only after the units are
transformed to be the same, either pounds, grams, or ounces, or some other mass unit.
1.2-2 Multiplication and Division

You can multiply or divide unlike units at will such as
50(kg)(m)/(s)
but you cannot cancel or merge units unless they are identical. Thus, 3 m2/60 cm can
be converted to 3 m2/0.6 m, and then to 5 m, but in m/s 2, the units cannot be cancelled
or combined. In summary, units contain a significant amount of information that
cannot be ignored. They also serve as guides in efficient problem solving, as you will
see shortly.
1.3 Conversion Unit and Conversion Factor

If a plane travels at twice the speed of sound (assume that the speed of sound is 1100
ft/s), how fast is it going in miles per hour?
We formulate the conversion as follows:
In the AE system the conversion of terms involving pound mass and pound force
deserve special attention. Let us start the discussion with Newton's Law:
F = Cma (1.1)
where F = force
C = a constant whose numerical value and units depend on those selected for F, m,
and a
m = mass
a = acceleration
In the SI system in which the unit of force is defined to be the Newton (N) when 1 kg
is accelerated at 1 m/s2, a conversion factor C = 1 N/(Kg)(m)/s 2 must be introduced to
have the force be 1 N:
Because the numerical value associated with the conversion factor is 1, the conversion
factor seems simple, even nonexistent, and the units are ordinarily ignored.
In the AE system an analogous conversion factor is required. However, to make the
numerical value of the force and the mass be essentially the same at the earth's
surface, if a mass of 1 Ibm is hypothetically accelerated at g ft/s 2, where g is the
acceleration that would be caused by gravity (about 32.2 ft/s 2 depending on the
location of the mass), we can make the force be 1 lbf by choosing the proper
numerical value and units for the conversion factor C:
A numerical value of 1/32.174 has been chosen for the numerical value in the
conversion factor because 32.174 is the numerical value of the average acceleration of
gravity (g) (9.80665 m/s2) at sea level at 45° latitude when g is expressed in ft/s 2. The
acceleration caused by gravity, you may recall, varies by a few tenths of 1% from
place to place on the surface of the earth but is quite different on the surface of the
moon.
The inverse of the conversion factor with the numerical value 32.174 included is
given the special symbol gc
What is the difference between mass and weight? When someone says they weigh
100 kg, or 200 pounds, how can that statement be correct when you know that weight
is a force, not a mass, equal to the opposite of the force required to support a mass
(consult some of the references at the end of this chapter for a more precise definition
of weight)? To avoid confusion, just interpret the statement as follows: a person or
object weighs as much as a mass of 100 kg, or 200 pounds, would weigh, if measured
by a force scale.

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Basic principle I First class Dr.

Arkan Jasim Hadi

Primary dimensions include:

Secondary dimensions can be expressed in terms of

1.2-2 Multiplication and Division

1.3 Conversion Unit and Conversion Factor

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