(CEB 1043) Jan 2020

Chapter 2
Units and Dimensions
Objectives

• Understand the units & dimensions

• Understand how to convert the one unit system to another
unit system
Learning Outcome

At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define units and dimensions

2. Apply the unit systems to express the units &
dimensions
What are dimensions and units?
1. Dimensions: the basic concepts of measurements. They
are mass, length, time and temperature. The other
dimensions, e.g. velocity (length/time), are derived from
multiplying or dividing them.

2. Units
The means of expressing the dimensions base, multiple
and derive.
• System of Units
– System International (SI) e.g. meter, kilogram, second
– CGS e.g. centimeter, gram, second
– American Engineering Systems (AES); e.g. foot, pound-mass lbm
Basic measurements
Quantity Unit Symbol
Mass (M) kilogram (SI) kg
gram (CGS) g
pound-mass (AES) lbm
Length (L) meter (SI) m
centimeter (CGS) cm
foot (AES) ft
Time (T) second for all unit s
systems
Temperature Kelvin (SI and CGS) K
(K) Fahrenheit (AES) o
F
Cont.: Basic Measurement
Can (+), (-) or (=) ONLY for similar units
eg: 1 m + 1 m = 2 m (√)
1 ft + 1 m (×)
1 kg + 1 m (×)

Can (x) or (÷) non-similar units

1m/1s = 1m/s (√ )

Conversion of Units: Quantity in a unit term to its equivalent

in terms of another unit conversion factor. Equation must be
dimensionally consistent
Identifying Quantity and Units from Dimension
Identifying Dimension and Unit from Quantity
Converting units

given unit equivalent

unit

Equivalent conversion unit system

Unit conversion table
Conversion of gas constant and temperature
The gas constant
8.314 m3.Pa (mol.K)
0.08314 L.bar/(mol.K)
0.08206 L.atm/(mol.K)
62.36 L.mm Hg/(mol.K)
0.7302 ft3.atm/(lb-mole.oR)
10.73 ft3.psia/(lb-mole.oR)
8.314 J/(mol.K)
1.987 cal/(mol.K)
1.987 Btu/(lb-mole.oR)

Temperature
T(K) = T(oC) + 273.15
T(oR) = T(oF) + 459.67
T(oR) = 1.8T(K)
T(oF) = 1.8T(oC) + 32
Practice of converting units

Convert 1 year to second.

Convert 100 miles/h to ft/s

 Cont.: Practice of converting units

Convert 500 m3/h to cm3/day.

Convert 9.8 m2/s to ft2/hr

Cont.: Practice of converting units

Convert 3.2 angstroms (Å) to ft

Convert 20 Btu to kWhr

Example 1

A supersonic aircraft consumes 5,320 imperial gallons of

kerosene per hour of flight and flies an average of 14 hours
per day. It takes 7 tonnes of crude oil to produce one tonne of
kerosene. The density of kerosene is 0.965 g/cm3. How
many planes would it take to consume the entire annual
production of 4.02×109 metric tonnes of crude oil per year?
Solution: Example 1

First step: calculate the production capacity of kerosene per

year from crude oil production data and kerosene density data.
Cont.: Solution for Example 1

Second step: calculate the total fuel consumption per plane per
year from fuel consumption data per plane
Example 2

A waste treatment pond is 50 m long and 15 m wide, and has

an average depth of 2m. The density of the waste is 85.3
lbm/ft3. Calculate the weigh of the pond contents in lbf.
Example 3

A supersonic aircraft consumes 5,320 imperial gallons of

kerosene per hour of flight and flies an average of 14 hours
per day. It takes 7 tonnes of crude oil to produce one tonne
of kerosene.
If the Malaysian crude oil production is 600,000 barrel per
day, how many planes to consume the entire annual
Malaysian crude oil production? Given, 1 barrel = 200 liters
and density of kerosene is 0.965 g/cm3 . Discuss your
answer by assuming the density of crude oil is equal to the
density of kerosene.
Solution for Example 3

First step: calculate the production capacity of kerosene per

year from crude oil production data and kerosene density of
0.965 g/cm3 and conversion of crude to kerosene data.
Assuming the density of crude oil equal to the density of
kerosene.
Cont.: Solution for Example 3

Second step: calculate the total fuel consumption per plane per
year

Third step: calculate the total number of planes