Principles of Unit Analysis

Nearly all the numbers we work with in daily life represent an amount of something. For
example, the number 3 might represent 3 apples, 3 dollars, or 3 hours. The words that
describe what we are measuring or counting—such as apples, dollars, or hours— are called
the units associated with the number. The technique of working with units to help solve
problems is called unit analysis (or dimensional analysis).

Definition
The units of a quantity describe what that quantity measures or counts.
Unit analysis is the process of working with units to help solve problems.

Units provide crucial context to numerical statements. For example, if you say “I weigh 100,”
the meaning is very different depending on whether you are talking about pounds or
kilograms. We must therefore keep careful track of units when working with real-life
numbers.

Example 1 -Using Key Words

Show operations and units clearly to answer the following questions.
a. What is the total distance traveled when you run 7 laps around a 400-meter track?
b. How many crates do you need to hold 2000 apples if each crate holds 40 apples?
c. Find the area of room. If the room is 10 feet long and 12 feet wide.
d. Find the volume of a box, If the box is 6 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 10 inches high.
Solution
a. We could express the same idea as “7 laps of a 400-meter track.” Therefore, this
problem requires multiplying 7 laps by the 400 meters you run per lap:

As always, we do not distinguish between singular (lap) and plural (laps) when working with
units, so they cancel and leave the final answer in meters.
b. We can express the capacity of the crates as “40 apples per crate.” We therefore divide:
Note that we replaced the division with multiplication by the reciprocal (“invert and
multiply”).
c. To find the area of a room, we multiply its length by its width. If the room is 12 feet long
and 10 feet wide,
its area is

We read this area as “120 square feet,” in which the key word square implies the second
power. Note that we multiply the numbers 12 × 10 = 120 separately from the units f t × f t =
ft 2 but keep track of both.

d. To find the volume of a box, we multiply its width, depth, and height
If the box is 6 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 10 inches high, its volume is

We read this volume as “240 cubic inches,” noting that the key word cubic implies the third
power.
Example 2 -Identifying Units
Identify the units of the answer in each of the following cases.
a. The price you paid for gasoline, found by dividing its total cost in dollars by the number of
gallons of gas that you bought.
b. The area of a circle, found with the formula 𝜋𝑟 2 , where the radius r is measured in
centimeters.
c. A volume found by multiplying an area measured in acres by a depth measured in feet.
Solution
a. The price of the gasoline has units of dollars divided by gallons, which we write as $/gal
and read as “dollars per gallon.”
b. The area of the circle has units of centimeters to the second power, which we write as cm2
and read as “square centimeters.”
c. In this case, the volume has units of acres × feet, which we read as “acre-feet.” This unit of
volume is commonly used by hydrologists (water engineers) in the United States.

Unit Conversions

Many everyday problems require converting numbers from one unit to another, such as from
miles to kilometers or quarts to cups. As a simple example, suppose we want to convert 2
feet to inches. Because 1 foot is the same as 12 inches, we do the conversion as follows:

12 𝑖𝑛
Notice that, in multiplying by , we’ve really just multiplied by 1, because 12 inches and
1𝑓𝑡
1 foot are equal. This idea extends to all unit conversions, which always require an
appropriate way of multiplying by 1 so we don’t change the meaning of the original
expression. For example, the following are all different ways writing 1:

Conversion Factors

Unit Conversions are done by multiplying a quantity by the appropriate form of 1. These are
called Conversion Factors.
12 𝑖𝑛
The term 1𝑓𝑡 , which is equal to 1, is often called a conversion factor. We can write this
conversion factor in three equivalent ways:

Example 3 -Inches to Feet

Convert a length of 102 inches to feet.
Solution We start with the term 102 inches on the left, as shown below. Our goal is to
multiply this term by 1 in a form that will change the units from inches to feet. We therefore
use the conversion factor in the form that has inches in the denominator, so that inches
cancel:

A length of 102 inches is equal to 8.5 feet.

Example 4 -Seconds to Minutes
Convert a time of 3000 seconds into minutes.
Solution There are 60 seconds in 1 minute, so we can write the conversion factor in the
following three forms:

We start with the term 3000 seconds on the left and note that the middle form of the
conversion factor causes seconds to cancel, giving an answer in minutes:

A time of 3000 seconds is equal to 50 minutes.

Example 5 -Using a Chain of Conversions
How many seconds are there in one day?
Solution Most of us don’t immediately know the answer to this question, but we do know
that 1 day = 24 hr, 1 hr = 60 min, and 1 min = 60 s. We can answer the question by setting up
a chain of unit conversions in which we start with day and end up with seconds:

By using the conversion factors needed to cancel the appropriate units, we are left with the
answer in seconds. There are 86,400 seconds in one day.

Conversions with Units Raised to Powers

We must take special care when converting units raised to powers. For example, suppose we
want to know the number of square feet in a square yard. We may not know the conversion
factor between square yards (yd2) and square feet (ft2) , but we know that 1 yd = 3 ft.
Therefore, we can replace 1 yard by 3 feet when we write out 1 square yard:

That is, 1 square yard is the same as 9 square feet. We can also find this conversion factor by
squaring both sides of the yards-to-feet conversion:

So, 9 square feet fit exactly into 1 square yard. As usual, we can write the conversion factor
in three equivalent forms:

Example 6 - Carpeting a Room

You want to carpet a room that measures 10 feet by 12 feet, making an area of 120 square
feet. But carpet is usually sold by the square yard. How many square yards of carpet do you
need?
Solution We need to convert the room’s area from units of square feet to square yards, so we
use the conversion factor in the form that has 1 square feet (ft2) in the denominator:
Note that we rounded the answer to the nearest 0.1 square yard. Most stores will not sell
fractions of a square yard, so you will need to buy 14 square yards of carpet.
Example 7 - Cubic Units: Purchasing Garden Soil
You are preparing a vegetable garden that is 40 feet long and 16 feet wide, and you need
enough soil to fill it to a depth of 1 foot. The landscape supply store sells soil by the
cubic yard. How much soil should you order?
Solution To find the volume of soil that you need, we multiply the garden’s length (40 feet),
width (16 feet), and depth (1 foot):

Because soil is sold by the cubic yard, we need to convert this volume from units of cubic feet
to cubic yards. We know that 1 yd = 3 ft, so we find the required conversion factor by cubing
both sides of this equation:

As usual, we can write this conversion factor in three equivalent forms:

To convert the soil volume from cubic feet to cubic yards, we use the conversion factor that
has cubic feet (ft3) in the denominator:

You will need to order about 24 cubic yards of soil for your garden.

Assignment
Using Key Words.
Show operations and units clearly to answer
the following questions.
1. How much will you pay for 3.5 pounds of bananas at a price of $0.90 per pound?
2. What is the total weight of 23 baseballs that weigh 5.25 ounces each?
3. How much will you earn working for 6 months at a salary of $3200 per month?
4. How many apartment buildings are needed to house 3000 people if each building can
house 150 people?
Area and Volume Calculations.
Show clearly your use of units for the following calculations.
5. A large box-shaped arena has a rectangular floor that measures 200 feet by 150 feet and
a flat ceiling that is 35 feet above the floor. Find the area of the floor and the volume of
the arena.
6. A warehouse is 40 yards long and 25 yards wide, and it is piled with cartons to a height
of 3 yards. What is the area of the warehouse floor? What is the total volume of the -
cartons? (Assume there is no space between cartons.)
7. A can has a circular base with an area of 6 square inches and is 4 inches tall. What is its
total volume?
Identifying Units.
Identify the units of the following quantities. State the units mathematically (for example,
mi/hr) and in words (for example, miles per hour).
8. Your average speed on a long walk, found by dividing distance traveled in miles by time
elapsed in hours
9. The unit price of oranges, found by dividing the price in dollars by the weight in pounds
10. The cost of a piece of carpet, found by dividing its price in dollars by its area in square
yards
11. The flow rate of a river in which 5000 cubic feet of water flow past a particular location
every second
12. The unit price of rice in Japan, found by dividing the price in yen by the weight in
kilograms
Unit Conversions.
Carry out the following unit conversions. Where necessary, round to the nearest hundredth.
13 Convert 24 feet to inches.
14. Convert 24 feet to yards.
16. Convert 25 minutes to seconds.
17. Convert 32 years to days (neglecting leap years).
18. Convert 2.5 hours to seconds.
19. Convert the Space Station’s orbital speed of 17,200 miles per hour to units of miles per
second.
20. Convert 3 years to hours (neglecting leap years).
21. Convert 26,500 inches to miles, using the facts
1 mi = 1760 yd, 1 yd = 3 ft, and 1 ft = 12 in
Conversions with Square and Cubic Units.
22. Find a conversion factor between square feet and square inches. Write it in three forms.
23. Find a conversion factor between cubic meters and cubic centimeters. Write it in three
forms.
23. Find the area in square feet of a rectangular yard that measures 20 yards by 12 yards.
24. An air conditioning system can circulate 320 cubic feet of air per minute. How many cubic
yards of air can it circulate per minute?
25. A hot tub pump circulates 4 cubic feet of water per minute. How many cubic inches of
water does it circulate each minute?
MUHAMMAD YOUNAS
LECTURER IN MATHEMATICS
GGC, BAHAWALNAGAR