APPENDIX I

SI AND ENGLISH UNITS AND

CONVERSION FACTORS

The International System of Units (Systéme International d’Unités, or SI) recognizes seven basic units
from which all others are derived. They are:

No. Quantity Name of Unit Symbol

1 length meter m
2 mass kilogram kg
3 time second s
4 electric current ampere A
5 temperature kelvin K
6 luminous intensity candela cd
7 amount of substance mole mol

Multiples of units are designated by the following names:

Amount Prefix Symbol Amount Prefix Symbol

1 ⫺1
10 deca da 10 deci d
102 hecto h 10⫺2 centi c
103 kilo k 10⫺3 milli m
106 mega M 10⫺6 micro ␮
109 giga G 10⫺9 nano n

This appendix presents the SI and English (imperial) units, which are used in various areas of trans-
portation engineering, and their conversion factors. Some metric units and factors that are not listed in
the SI but are commonly used and remain internationally recognized are also included. Examples are
the units of centimeter (10⫺2 m), hour (3.6 ⫻ 103 s) and kilowatt-hour (3.6 MJ) and multiples of 10,
102, 10⫺1, and 10⫺2.

Urban Transit Systems and Technology. Vukan R. Vuchic 565

Copyright  2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-471-75823-5
566 APPENDIX I

For more extensive coverage of units, the following book is suggested:

Cardarelli, Francois. Scientific Unit Conversion. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003.
Units and conversion factors within and between the two systems of measures are presented here
for each dimension in a separate box. The format followed for each dimension is shown in the first
box:

DIMENSION

SI unit (symbol) English unit (symbol)

Conversion factors
(for conversion in the direction of the arrow, multiply by the number provided)

LENGTH

millimeter (mm) inch (in. ")

centimeter (cm) foot (ft. ')
meter (m) yard (yd)
kilometer (km) mile (mi)

103 mm = 102 cm = 1 m 36 in. = 3 ft = 1 yd

103 m = 1 km 25.40 5280 ft = 1760 yd = 1 mi
mm in.
0.0394
0.3048
m ft
3.281
0.9144
m yd
1.094
1.609
km mi
0.6214
 APPENDIX I 567

AREA

square millimeter (mm2) square inch (in2)

square centimeter (cm2) square foot (ft2)
square meter (m2) square yard (yd2)
hectare (ha) acre
square kilometer (km2) square mile (mi 2)
6.452 1296 in.2 = 9 ft2 = 1 yd2
cm2 in.2
106 mm2
= 104 cm2
=1 m2 0.1550 3,097,600 yd2 = 640
106 m2 = 102 ha = 1 km2 0.0929 acres = 1 mi 2
m2 ft2
10.76
0.8361
m2 yd2
1.196
0.4047
ha acre
2.471
2.590
km2 mi 2
0.3861

VOLUME

cubic millimeter (mm3) cubic inch (in.3)

cubic centimeter (cm3 or cc) quart (qt)
liter (L) gallon* (g)
cubic meter (m3) cubic foot (ft3)
cubic yard (yd3)
106 mm3 = 103 cm3 = 1 L
106 cm3 = 103 L = 1 m3 46,656 in.3 = 27 ft3 = 1 yd3
4 qt = 1 gal = 231 in.3
16.39 1 qt = 57.75 in.3
cm3 in.3
0.0610
3.785
L gal
0.2642
0.0283
m3 ft3
35.32
0.7646
m3 yd3
1.308
568 APPENDIX I

MASS

gram (g) ounce (oz)

kilogram (kg) pound (lb), pounds mass
(metric) tone or tonne (t) (lbm)
(short) ton (tn+ or stn),
28.35 long ton (ltn)
g oz
0.0353
103 g = 1 kg 0.4536 16 oz = 1 lb
103 kg = 1 t kg lb 2000 lb = 1 tn
2.205
2240 lb = 1.12 tn = 1 ltn
0.9072
t tn
1.102
1.016
t ltn
0.9842

DENSITY

grams/cubic centimeter ounces/cubic inch (oz/in.3)

(g/cm3) pounds/cubic inch (lb/in.3)
grams/liter (g/L) pounds/cubic foot (lb/ft3)
kilograms/cubic meter 16 oz/in.3 = 1 lb/in.3 =
(kg/m3) 1728 lb/ft 3

103 kg/m3 = 103 g/L = 1 g/cm3 1.743

cm 3 in.3
0.5737
16.02
L gal
0.0624
0.5933
m3 ft 3
1.686

SPEED

meters/second (m/s) feet/second (ft/s)

kilometers/hour (km/h) miles/hour (mph)

10 m/s = 3.6 km/h 0.3048 88 ft/s = 60 mph (exact)

m/s ft/s
3.281 (1.1467 ft/s = 1 mph)
1.609
km/h mph
0.6214
 APPENDIX I 569

ACCELERATION

meters per second squared feet per second squared (ft/s2)

(m/s2) miles per hour per second
(km/h/s is not used) (mphps)
g = 32.18 ft/s2
g = 9.807 m/s2 1 mphps = 1.467 ft/s2
0.3048
m/s2 ft/s2
3.281
0.4470
m/s2 mphps
2.237

JERK

meters per second cubed feet per second cubed (ft/s3)

(m/s3)

Factors are the same as the corresponding ones for acceleration.

FORCE, WEIGHT

dyne (dyn) ounce (oz)

newton (N) pound force (lbf)
kilonewton (kN) 103 pounds (kip)
(metric) ton or tonne (t) (not in SI) (short) ton force (tnf or s.tnf )
3200 oz = 2000 lbf = 1 tnf
108 dynes = 10 N = 1 kN
Force = weight ⫻ acceleration
Force = mass ⫻ acceleration
gravity const. (gc)
1 N = 1 kg m/s2 4.448 gc = 32.18 lbm – ft
N lbf lbf – s 2
0.2248
8.896
kN tnf
0.1124
570 APPENDIX I

LINEAL MASS*

kilograms per meter (kg/m) pounds per yard (lb/yd)

0.4960
kg/m lb/yd
2.016

*Common use in transportation: mass of rails.

PRESSURE*

pascal (Pa) pounds force per square

kilogram force per square inch (lbf/in.2) (psi)
meter (kgf/m2) pounds force per square
1 kgf/m2 = 9.807 Pa foot (lbf/ft2)
6,894.76
Pa psi
1.45 ⫻ 10–4
47.88
Pa lbf/ft2
0.02089

*Often used for area weight of vehicles.

FUEL CONSUMPTION (C)

AND EFFICIENCY (E)*
(C) liters per 100 kilometers (C) gallons per mile
(L /100 km) (gpm, gal/mi)
(C) joules per kilometer (C) British thermal units
(J/km) per mile (Btu/mi)
(E) kilometers per liter (km/L) (E) miles per gallon
0.4251 (mpg, mi/gal)
m/s ft/s
2.352
235.2
km/h mph
0.00425
0.6557 ⫻ 103
km/h mph
1.525 ⫻ 10-3
 APPENDIX I 571

ENERGY

erg British thermal unit (BTU)

joule (J) foot-pound force (ft-lbf)

107 ergs = 1 J 1055 1 Btu = 779.2 ft-lbf =

J Btu 118.98 hp-h
9.482 ⫻ 10–4
1.356
J ft-lbf
0.7376
Joint units:
watt-hours (Wh)
kilowatt-hours (kWh)
103 Wh = 1 kWh

3.6 ⫻ 106 0.3776 ⫻ 10–6

J kWh ft-lbf
0.2778 ⫻ 10–6 2.665 ⫻ 106

POWER

ergs per second foot-pounds force per

horsepower (metric) (HP) second (ft-lbf/s)
horsepower (British) (hp)
1 HP (metric) = 75 kg-m/s
Joint units: 1 hp (British) = 550 ft-lbf/s
watt (W) [1 W = 1 J /s 10 7 ergs/s]
kilowatt (kW)
1.360 0.7457
HP (metric) kW hp (British)
0.7355 1.341

TORQUE
dyne-centimeter (dyn-cm) inch-pounds force (in.-lbf)
newton-meter (N-m) foot-pounds force (ft-lbf)

107 dyn-cm = 1 N-m 12 in. lbf = 1 ft-lbf

1.356
N-m ft-lbf
0.7376