Units and Dimensions; Fluid

Properties
Module-1; Lecture 2
CIVE 2331
Khaled Ghannam
Office : 132D Nightingale Hall
Office hours : Tuesdays 3-5pm
Sep. 5, 2024
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Recap of yesterday’s lecture

 A fluid, which comprises liquids and gases, deforms continuously and
permanently under the action of a shear stress, no matter how small

 Stresses are forces acting on a unit area of a surface.

𝐹𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙
Tangential components are shearing stresses 𝜏 =
𝐴
𝐹𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙
Normal components are normal stresses 𝜎 =
𝐴

 This is because the intermolecular forces of a fluid are not strong enough to
maintain a definite shape, which makes fluids deform or “flow” under the
action of stress
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Review of Dimensions and Units

❑ Dimensions: a dimension is a means to measure physical quantities without
assigning a magnitude (numerical value) to those quantities. Mass [M] is a
dimension that measures how heavy an object is; Length [L] is a dimension for how
far apart objects are; and Time [T] is a dimension that measures how long does
something take or last

❑ Units: units are means to assign magnitudes to dimensions. For example, length [L]
can be measured in units of kilometers (km), meters (m), feet (ft), etc. Mass [M]
can be measured in kilograms (kg), milligrams (mg), etc.

❑ Quantities to be measured are independent of the units we choose to measure it

with. Whether you express the diameter of a pipe as 160 mm, 0.16 m, or 0.525 ft,
these are different units to express the same quantity (diameter of the pipe). This
means that we should be able to convert between units: 0.16 m x (1000 mm/1m) =
160 mm. Similarly, 0.16 m x (3.281 ft/1m) = 0.525 ft
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Dimensions and Units (continued)

❑ In fluid mechanics, the basic dimensions are length (L), mass (M), time (T), force (F),
and temperature (𝜃).

❑ The two system of units we will work with are the International System (SI: Système
Internationale d’Unités), and the British Gravitational (BG) system

❑ SI uses Mass [M], Length [L], and Time [T] as fundamental dimensions, with their
primary units being kg (kilogram), m (meter), and s (seconds). This is why the SI
system is often referred to as MLT system
❑ Derive the dimension of force in the SI system from these fundamental dimensions!

Newton’s second law: Force = mass x acceleration

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 ≐ 𝑀𝐿𝑇 −2
Recall the dimension of acceleration = velocity/Time ≐ 𝐿𝑇 −2

The force needed to accelerate a body of mass 1 kg at a rate of 1m/s2 is 1 N

(Newton), i.e., 1𝑁 = 1 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2
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Dimensions and Units (continued)

❑ The weight of an object of mass m is W = mg (g =9.81 m/s2 is gravitational
acceleration)

❑ For an object with mass 1kg, the weight

W = mg = 1 kg x 9.81 m/s2 = 9.81 kg m/s2 = 9.81 N

→ This weight of a 1kg mass is the force needed to accelerate it by 9.81 m/s 2
→ Alternatively, pushing on your desk with a force of 9.81 N is equivalent to saying
you placed an object with mass 1kg on the desk

❑ In the BG system, Force (F), Length (L), and Time (T) are the fundamental
dimensions, with their primary units being lbf (pound-force), ft (feet), and s (seconds)

❑ Mass then becomes a derived unit from 𝑚 = 𝐹/𝑎 ≐ 𝐹𝐿−1 𝑇 2

❑ The mass of an object that accelerates at 1 ft/s2 under the action of a force of 1 lbf
is called a slug
1 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔 = 1 𝑙𝑏𝑓 𝑠 2 /𝑓𝑡
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Dimensions and Units (continued)

❑ In the BG system, a 1 pound-force (1 lbf) is the weight of an object with mass
0.45359 kg
❑ The weight of a 0.45359 kg object is W =mg = 0.45359 kg x 9.81 m/s2 =4.448 N
❑ Hence the conversion of a force between BG and SI is: 1lbf = 4.448 N
❑ The mass of an object that has a 1lbf weight (which we just saw in SI units is
0.45359 kg) is what we define as a mass of 1 pound (simply lb), i.e., 1lb =
0.45359 kg

❑ Length conversion between SI and BG units: 1m = 3.281 ft (or 1ft = 0.3048 m)

→ g= 9.81 m/s2 = 9.81 m/s2 x (3.281 ft/m) = 32.2 ft/s2

❑ Recall slug as a unit of mass in BG system (mass= Force/acceleration: 1 slug = 1 lbf

s2/ft). Converting to SI units gives 1 slug = 14.59 kg
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Fundamental Dimensions in SI and BG Systems

❑ Although temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of constituent
molecules in a fluid (i.e., we can think of it as a derived dimension from M, L, T, or
from F, L, T), we will treat here as a fundamental dimension (more on this when we
discuss the continuum hypothesis)

Dimension BG Unit SI Unit

Length (L) Foot (ft) Meter (m)
Mass (M) Slug* (≐ lbf s2/ft) Kilogram (kg)
Time (T) Second (s) Second (s)
Force (F) Pound-force (lbf) Newton* (N) (≐ kg m/s2 )
Temperature (𝜃) Rankine (oR) Celsuis (oC)

The star * superscript on Slug and Newton indicate that they are derived units in their systems
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Some Derived Units in SI and BG Systems

Common
Quantity Symbol BG Unit SI Unit
Dimensions

Velocity 𝑉 𝐿 𝑇 −1 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 𝑚/𝑠

Acceleration 𝑎 𝐿 𝑇 −2 𝑓𝑡/𝑠 2 𝑚/𝑠 2
Force 𝐹 𝐹 = 𝑀𝐿𝑇 −2 𝑙𝑏𝑓 𝑁 ≡ 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2
Density 𝜌 𝑀𝐿−3 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔/𝑓𝑡 3 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
𝑁 × 𝑚 ≡ 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒 (𝐽)
Energy or Work 𝐸 or 𝑊 𝐹𝐿 𝑙𝑏𝑓 × 𝑓𝑡
𝑚
Power 𝑃 𝐹𝐿𝑇 −1 𝑓𝑡 × 𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑠 𝑁 × ≡ 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡 (𝑊)
𝑠
𝑁
Pressure 𝑝 𝐹𝐿−2 𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑓𝑡 2 ≡ 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙 (𝑃𝑎)
𝑚2
Viscosity 𝜇 𝐹𝑇𝐿−2 𝑙𝑏𝑓 × 𝑠/𝑓𝑡 2 𝑁 × 𝑠/𝑚2
Specific Weight
𝛾 𝐹𝐿−3 𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑓𝑡 3 𝑁/𝑚3
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Density and Specific Weight

❑ Density (𝜌) is the mass per unit volume: 𝜌 = 𝑚/∀ (𝑚 is mass and ∀ is volume)
→ In BG system 𝜌 ≐ 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠/𝑓𝑡 3 ; SI system 𝜌 ≐ 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3

❑ Specific Weight (𝛾) is the force exerted by a fluid due to gravity, i.e., its weight, on a
unit volume
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
→ 𝛾 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒. The unit of 𝛾 is 𝑁/𝑚3 (𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑓𝑡 3 in BG)

Obtain the relation between 𝛾 and 𝜌

Ans: 𝛾 = 𝜌𝑔

❑ Specific Gravity 𝑠 is the ratio of the density of a fluid to the density of liquid water at
standard temperature (15.56 oC):
𝜌𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 =
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
Because 𝑠 is a ratio of two quantities that have the same dimension, it is dimensionless
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Example problem
5.6 m3 of oil weigh 46,800 N. Find its mass density 𝜌, and its specific gravity 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙
(Given density of water is 1000 kg/m3)

Solution.
Given the volume ∀ (5.6 m3 ) and weight W (46,800 N), calculate the specific
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 46800 𝑁
weight of the oil: 𝛾 = = = 8357 𝑁/𝑚3
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 5.6 𝑚 3

𝛾
Now the density of the oil 𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙 = = 8357 (N/m3)/9.81 (m/s2) = 851 kg/m3
𝑔
𝜌𝑜𝑖𝑙
• 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 = = (851 kg/m3 )/(1000 kg/m3) = 0.851
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
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Specific Volume and additional exercise

❑ Specific Volume (∀𝑠 ) is the volume occupied by a unit mass of the fluid, i.e. how many
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
m3 (or ft3) are occupied by 1 kg (or 1 slug) of fluid→ ∀𝑠 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 , or

1
∀𝑠 =
𝜌

Exercise: If a certain gasoline weighs 43 lbf/ft3, what are the values of its density, specific volume, and
specific gravity relative to water at 60 ºF? Given the density of water at 60 ºF is 1.938 slugs/ft 3

Solution: We are given 𝛾𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 43 𝑙𝑏𝑓/𝑓𝑡 3

𝛾𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝜌𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = = 43 (lbf/ft3)/32.2 (ft/s2) = 1.335 lbf s2/ft4 = 1.335 slugs/ft3 (recall 1 slug = 1lbf s2/ft)
𝑔

1 1
Specific volume ∀𝑠 = = 𝑠𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑠 = 0.749 ft3/slug
𝜌 1.335( 3 )
𝑓𝑡
𝜌𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
Specific Gravity 𝑠𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = = (1.335 slugs/ft3)/(1.938 slugs/ft3) = 0.689
𝜌𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟