Fundamental Dimensions and Units

Chapter 6

Engineering Problems and Fundamental

Dimensions

when someone asks you how old you are, you reply by

saying I am 19 years old.

You dont say that you are approximately 170,000 hours old

or 612,000,000 seconds old, even though these statements

may very well be true at that instant!

Engineering Problems and Fundamental

Dimensions

fundamental or base dimensions to correctly express what

we know of the natural world. They are length, mass, time,

temperature, electric current, amount of substance, and
luminous intensity.

Systems of Units
The most common systems of units are :

International System (SI) .

British Gravitational (BG) .

U.S. Customary units.

International System (SI) of Units

International System (SI) of Units

International System (SI) of Units

The units for other physical quantities used in engineering

can be derived from the base units.

For example, the unit for force is the

newton. It is derived

from Newtons second law of motion.

One newton is defined as a magnitude of a force that when

applied to 1 kilogram of mass, will accelerate the mass at a

rate of 1 meter per second squared (m/s2). That is: 1N
(1kg)(1m/s2).

International System (SI) of Units

International System (SI) of Units

British Gravitational (BG) System

In the British Gravitational (BG) system of units, the unit of

length is a foot (ft), which is equal to 0.3048 meter

The unit of temperature is expressed in degree Fahrenheit (F)

or in terms of absolute temperature degree Rankine (R).

The relationship between the degree Fahrenheit and degree

Rankine is given by:

British Gravitational (BG) System

The relationship between degree Fahrenheit and degree

Celsius is given by:

The relationship between the degree Rankine and the Kelvin

by:

U.S. Customary Units

The unit of length is a foot (ft), which is equal to 0.3048

meter.

The unit of mass is a pound mass (lbm), which is equal to

0.453592 kg; and the unit of time is a second (s).

The units of temperature in the U.S. Customary system are

identical to the BG system

U.S. Customary Units

Unit Conversion

Read about accident caused by NASA loosing a spacecraft

in Pg. :138-139.

Unit Conversion

Example 6.1 :

A person who is 6 feet and 1 inch tall and weighs 185

pound force (lbf) is driving a car at a speed of 65 miles
per hour over a distance of 25 miles. The outside air
temperature is 80F and has a density of 0.0735 pound
mass per cubic foot (lbm/ft3). Convert all of the values
given in this example from U.S. Customary Units to SI
units.

Unit Conversion (Example 6.1 )

Unit Conversion (cont. Example 6.1 )

Unit Conversion (Example 6.2 )

Work out Example 6.2 at home .If you have any question ask
me .

Dimensional Homogeneity

What do we mean by dimensionally homogeneous?

Can you, say, add someones height who is 6 feet tall to his
weight of 185 lbf and his body temperature of 98F?! Of
course not!

Dimensional Homogeneity (Example 6.3 )


For Equation 6.1 to be dimensionally homogeneous,

the units on the left-hand side of the equation must

equal the units on the right-hand side. This equality
requires the modulus of elasticity to have the units of
N/m2, as follows:

Dimensional Homogeneity (cont. Example 6.3 )

Numerical versus Symbolic Solutions

When you take your engineering classes, you need to be aware

of two important things:

(1) understanding the basic concepts and principles associated
with that class
(2)how to apply them to solve real physical problems (situations)

Homework problems in engineering typically require either a

numerical or a symbolic solution.

For problems that require numerical solution, data is given. In

contrast, in the symbolic solution, the steps and the final answer
are presented with variables that could be substituted with data.

Numerical versus Symbolic Solutions (Example 6.4)

Determine the load that can be lifted by the hydraulic system

shown. All of the necessary information is shown in the Figure.

Numerical versus Symbolic Solutions (Example 6.4)

Numerical Solution:

We start by making use of the given data and substituting

them into appropriate equations as follows.

Numerical versus Symbolic Solutions (Example 6.4)

Symbolic Solution:

For this problem, we could start with the equation that relates
F2 to F1, and then simplify the similar quantities such as p and
g in the following manner:

Significant Digits (Figures)

One half of the smallest scale division commonly is called the

least count of the measuring instrument.

For example, referring to Figure 6.4, it should be clear that the

least count for the thermometer is 1F (the smallest division is

2F), for the ruler is 0.05 in., and for the pressure gage is 0.5
inches of water.

Therefore, using the given thermometer, it would be incorrect

to record the air temperature as 71.25F and later use this value
to carry out other calculations. Instead, it should be recorded as
71 F.

This way, you are telling the reader or the user of your

measurement that the temperature reading falls between 70F

and 72F.

Examples of recorded measurements

Significant Digits (Figures)

Significant digits are numbers zero through nine. However,

when zeros are used to show the position of a decimal point,

they are not considered significant digits.

For example, each of the following numbers 175, 25.5,

1.85, and 0.00125 has three significant digits. Note the

zeros in number 0.00125 are not considered as significant
digits, since they are used to show the position of the
decimal point

Significant Digits (Figures)

The number of significant digits for the number 1500 is not

clear. It could be interpreted as having two, three, or four

significant digits based on what the role of the zeros is.

In this case, if the number 1500 was expressed by 1.5 *10^3,

15*10^2, or 0.015 *10^5, it would be clear that it has two

significant digits. By expressing the number using the power
of ten, we can make its accuracy more clear.

However, if the number was initially expressed as 1500.0,

then it has four significant digits and would imply that the
accuracy of the number is known to 1/10000.

Significant Digits (Figures)

Addition and Subtraction Rules

Multiplication and Division Rules

Engineering Components and Systems

The primary function of a car is to move us from one place to

another in a reasonable amount of time. The car must provide a

comfortable area for us to sit within. Furthermore, it must
shelter us and provide some protection from the outside
elements, such as harsh weather and harmful objects outside.

The automobile consists of thousands of parts. When viewed in

its entirety, it is a complicated system. Thousands of engineers

have contributed to the design, development, testing, and
supervision of the manufacture of an automobile.

These

include electrical engineers, electronic engineers,

combustion engineers, materials engineers, aerodynamics
experts, vibration and control experts, airconditioning
specialists, manufacturing engineers, and industrial engineers.

Engineering Components and Systems

When viewed as a system, the car may be divided into major

subsystems or units, such as electrical, body, chassis, power

train, and air conditioning (see the following figure)

the electrical system of a car consists of a battery, a starter, an

alternator, wiring, lights, switches, radio, microprocessors,

and so on

each of these components can be further divided into yet

smaller components. In order to understand a system, we must

first fully understand the role and function of its components.

An engineering System and its components

Engineering Components and Systems

During the next four or five years you will take a number of

engineering classes that will focus on specific topics.

You may take a statics class, which deals with the

equilibrium of objects at rest.

You will learn about the role of external forces, internal

forces, and reaction forces and their interactions

Engineering Components and Systems

Later, you will learn the underlying concepts and equilibrium

conditions for designing parts.

You will also learn about other physical laws, principles,

mathematics, and correlations that will allow you to analyze,

design, develop, and test various components that make up a
system.

It is imperative that during the next four or five years you fully

understand these laws and principles so that you can design

components that fit well together and work in harmony to fulfill
the ultimate goal of a given system

Physical Laws and Observations in Engineering

The key concepts that you need to keep in the back of your

mind are the physical and chemical laws and principles and
mathematics.

we use mathematics and basic physical quantities to express

our observations in the form of a law. Even so, to this day we

may not fully understand why nature works the way it does.
We just know it works.

Physical Laws and Observations in Engineering

There are physicists who spend their lives trying to understand

on a more fundamental basis why nature behaves the way it

does.

Some engineers may focus on investigating the fundamentals,

but most engineers use fundamental laws to design things.

Engineers are also good bookkeepers.

Physical Laws and Observations in Engineering

To better understand this concept, consider the air inside a car tire.

If there are no leaks, the mass of air inside the tire remains
constant. This is a statement expressing conservation of mass,

which is based on our observations.

If the tire develops a leak, then you know from your experience
that the amount of air within the tire will decrease until you have a
flat tire. Furthermore, you know the air that escaped from the tire
was not destroyed; it simply became part of the surrounding
atmosphere.

The conservation of mass statement is similar to a bookkeeping

method that allows us to account for what happens to the mass in

an engineering problem.

Physical Laws and Observations in Engineering

Conservation of energy is another good example. It is again

similar to a bookkeeping method that allows us to keep track
of various forms of energy and how they may change from
one form to another.

Another important law that all of you have heard about is

Newtons second law of motion.

Newton expressed his observations using mathematics, but

simply expressed, this law states that unbalanced force is

equal to mass times acceleration.

Physical Laws and Observations in Engineering