CHAPTER THREE

System of Units and Dimensions

 Units , Dimensions & Conversions

Do you understand this?

 The Fly Emirates stadium is 4 away from the
city centre.
Or
 The stadium is 15 lengths of my backyard away.
Or
 Please go and buy 3 milks and 1.5 sugar from
the shop.
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 Cont,....
Using units properly…
 What does “The Fly Emirates stadium is 4 away" mean?

 In this case, UNITS are quite helpful: The Fly Emirates stadium
is 4 km away …

 In scientific applications, units play a central role in quantification!

 Even units also play an important role in daily life applications …

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 Cont,....

• You use values, units and Values, Units & Dimensions

 A value is the numerical
dimensions all the time: quantity. For example: 5.2
Grocery List
1 carton of milk
1/4 pound burger  The units tell what that
quantity represents. For
example: 5.2 liters.

value: 0.25 value: 1

 The dimensions are the
unit: carton
unit: pound measurable properties that
dimensions:
dimension: volume (length3) the units represent
mass
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 Cont,....
Systems of Units
A system of units has the following components:

1. Base Units - for mass, length, temperature, electrical current, time, light
intensity and amount of substance (mole)

2. Multiple Units - are defined as multiples or fractions of base units

such as minutes, hours, and milliseconds, all of which are defined in
terms of the base unit of second
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 Cont,....

3. Derived/Compound Units – are obtained in one of two

ways:

 By multiplying and/or dividing base and/or multiple units (e.g.

cm2, ft/min, kg.m/s2)

 As defined equivalents of compound units (e.g., 1erg = 1g.cm/s2,

1lbf = 32.174lbm.ft/s2)
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 Systems of
Units…

• SI (Systéme International) system of basic units - an international

standard group of units based on the meter (length), second (time),
kilogram (mass), degree Kelvin (temperature), ampere (current),
candela (light intensity), and mole (number of elementary entities).

• CGS system - (centimeters, grams, seconds)

• American Engineering System(AES) - feet (ft), pound-mass(Ibm) &

seconds (s)
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Systems of Units…
Comparison between AES, SI and CGS systems

Quantity/Dimension AES SI CGS

Length ft m cm

Mass lbm kg g

Mole lbm-mole mol g-mole

Temperature Rankine (R) K K

Time s s s

Electrical current A A A

Light intensity Cd Cd Cd

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Systems of Units…
Some examples of derived/compound units
Quantity Unit (Symbol)  Base Units
Volume liter (L) 0.001 m3 = 1000 cm3

Force Newton (N) 1 kg·m/s2

dyne 1 g·cm/s2

Pressure Pascal (Pa) 1 N/m2

Energy/work Joule (J) 1 N·m = 1 kg·m2/s2

erg 1 dyne·cm = 1 g·cm2/s2

Power Watt (W) 1 J/s = 1 kg·m2/s3

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 What can we do with units?
Treat units as algebraic entities:
• add/subtract them, if they are of the same units:
* 5 cm – 3 cm + 2.1 cm = 4.1 cm
* 2m – 1cm=????
• multiply/divide them anytime:
* (5.0 kg/s)/(0.20 kg/m3) = 25 m3/s
• inter-convert them (units with same dimension)

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 Unit Conversions
To convert a measured value from one base unit to another, multiply by the appropriate
conversion factor.
• Conversion Factors within the Same System of Units
- 12 inches/1 foot - 5280 feet/1 mile
- 1000 grams/1 kilogram - 100 centimetres/1 meter
• Conversion Factors Between Different Systems of Units
- 1 lbm/0.454 kg - 1 kg/2.2 lbm
- 3.2808 ft/1 meter - 1 m3/35.3 ft3

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Unit Conversions

EXAMPLE: Conversion from Ibm to kg:

165 lbm (0.453593 kg / lbm) = 74.8 kg

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Unit Conversions...

If a quantity having a compound unit is given and it is required to

convert it to its equivalent in terms of another sets of units, setting
up a dimensional equation is important:
1st. Write the given quantity and its units on the left.
2nd. Write the units of conversion factors that cancel the old units and
replace them with the desired ones.
3rd. Fill in the values of the conversion factors.
4th. Carry out the indicated arithmetic to find the desired value.

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 Unit Conversions...

Example: Convert 23 lbm·ft/min2 to its equivalent in kg·cm/s2

Solution:
2
lbm· ft lbm· ft 0.453593 kg 100 cm 1 min
23 = 23
min2 min2 lbm 3.281 ft 60 s
(23)(0.45393)(100)(1) kg·cm
=
(3.281)(3600) s2

= kg·cm
0.088
s2
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Unit Conversions...

Examples

a) Convert 921 kg/m3 to Ibm/ft3

b) Convert an acceleration of 1 cm/s2 to its equivalent in km/yr2.

c) 554 m4 /(day.kg) to cm4/(min·g)

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 Dimensional Homogeneity & Dimensionless
Quantities
A valid equation must be dimensionally homogeneous, i.e., both sides of the
equations have the same units.
Example: Dimensional homogeneity

Consider the equation:

D (ft) = 3t(s) + 4
1. If the equation is valid, what are the dimensions of the constants 3 and 4?
2. If the equation is consistent in its unit, what are the units of 3 and 4?
3. Derive an equation for distance in meters in terms of time in minutes.

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Dimensional Homogeneity…
Solution
1. The equation must be dimensionally homogeneous such that
each term must have the dimension of length.

Constant Dimension
3 length/time
4 length

2. For consistency, the constants must be 3 ft/s and 4 ft

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Dimensional Homogeneity…
Solution…
3. Let us introduce new variables D’(m) and t’(min), which can be related
with the old variable as follows:
D’(m) 3.28 ft
D(ft) = = 3.28D’
m
t’(min) 60 s
t(s) = = 60t’
min
After
D’(m) = 55t’(min) + 1.22 simplification
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 Dimensional Homogeneity…

 A general procedure for rewriting an equation in terms of new

variables having the same dimensions but different units:

1. Define new variables (e.g., by affixing primes to the old variable names)
that have the desired units.
2. Write expressions for each old variable in terms of the corresponding new
variable.
3. Substitute these expressions in the original equation and simplify.

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 Dimensionless Quantities

 A Dimensionless Quantity can be a pure number (1, 2/3, 5.6) or a

combination of variables with no net dimensions.

Example: Dimensionless quantity

What are the dimensions of the following?

1. Re = r(kg/m3)·u(m/s)·D(m)
m(Pa·s)
2. M1(g/mol) / M2(lbm/lbm-mole)

Both are dimensionless.

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Dimensionless Quantities

Exponents (such as the 2 in X2), transcendental functions (such

as log, exp =e, and sin), and
arguments of transcendental functions (such as the X in sinX)
must be dimensionless quantities.

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Dimensionless Quantities

A quantity k depends on the temperature T in the following

manner:
mol 20,000
k ( 3
)  1.2 *10 5
exp (- )
cm .s 1.987T

The units of the quantity 20,000 are cal/mol, and T is in K (kelvin).

What are the units of 1.2 X 105 and 1.9817?

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 Dimensionless Quantities…
Example:
Which of these equations is dimensionally homogeneous?

x (m)  x (m)  0.3048 (m/ft)  (ft/s ) t (s)  0.5a (m/s 2 ) [ t (s) ]2

o

kg
kg Pa 2 kg m
P ( 2
)  101325.0 ( ) 1 ( ms ) Po (atm)  r ( 3
)  ( )
ms atm Pa m s

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What is the role and importance of chemical
engineering in nation development?

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