Basic science (Physics and Chemistry)

by Tony R. Kuphaldt (2006)

Unit conversion problems

Work, energy, and power
Simple machines
Static fluids
Dynamic fluids
Elementary thermodynamics
Molecular quantities
Balancing chemical reaction equations (stoichiometry)
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Unit conversion problems, by Tony R. Kuphaldt (2006)

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Metric prefixes and conversion constants

Metric prefixes
Yotta = 1024 Symbol: Y
Zeta = 1021 Symbol: Z
Exa = 1018 Symbol: E
Peta = 1015 Symbol: P
Tera = 1012 Symbol: T
Giga = 109 Symbol: G
Mega = 106 Symbol: M
Kilo = 103 Symbol: k
Hecto = 102 Symbol: h
Deca = 101 Symbol: da
Deci = 101 Symbol: d
Centi = 102 Symbol: c
Milli = 103 Symbol: m
Micro = 106 Symbol:
Nano = 109 Symbol: n
Pico = 1012 Symbol: p
Femto = 1015 Symbol: f
Atto = 1018 Symbol: a
Zepto = 1021 Symbol: z
Yocto = 1024 Symbol: y
METRIC PREFIX SCALE
T
tera
1012

G
M
giga mega
109
106

k
kilo
103

(none)
100

milli micro
10-3 10-6

102 101 10-1 10-2

hecto deca deci centi
h
da
d
c

Conversion formulae for temperature

F = (o C)(9/5) + 32
o
C = (o F - 32)(5/9)
o
R = o F + 459.67
K = o C + 273.15
o

Conversion equivalencies for distance

1 inch (in) = 2.540000 centimeter (cm)
1 foot (ft) = 12 inches (in)
1 yard (yd) = 3 feet (ft)
1 mile (mi) = 5280 feet (ft)

n
nano
10-9

p
pico
10-12

Conversion equivalencies for volume

1 gallon (gal) = 231.0 cubic inches (in3 ) = 4 quarts (qt) = 8 pints (pt) = 128 fluid ounces (fl. oz.)
= 3.7854 liters (l)
1 milliliter (ml) = 1 cubic centimeter (cm3 )

Conversion equivalencies for velocity

1 mile per hour (mi/h) = 88 feet per minute (ft/m) = 1.46667 feet per second (ft/s) = 1.60934
kilometer per hour (km/h) = 0.44704 meter per second (m/s) = 0.868976 knot (knot international)

Conversion equivalencies for mass

1 pound (lbm) = 0.45359 kilogram (kg) = 0.031081 slugs

Conversion equivalencies for force

1 pound-force (lbf) = 4.44822 newton (N)

Conversion equivalencies for area

1 acre = 43560 square feet (ft2 ) = 4840 square yards (yd2 ) = 4046.86 square meters (m2 )

Conversion equivalencies for common pressure units (either all gauge or all absolute)
1 pound per square inch (PSI) = 2.03602 inches of mercury (in. Hg) = 27.6799 inches of water (in.
W.C.) = 6.894757 kilo-pascals (kPa) = 0.06894757 bar
1 bar = 100 kilo-pascals (kPa) = 14.504 pounds per square inch (PSI)

Conversion equivalencies for absolute pressure units (only)

1 atmosphere (Atm) = 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute (PSIA) = 101.325 kilo-pascals absolute
(kPaA) = 1.01325 bar (bar) = 760 millimeters of mercury absolute (mmHgA) = 760 torr (torr)

Conversion equivalencies for energy or work

1 british thermal unit (Btu International Table) = 251.996 calories (cal International Table)
= 1055.06 joules (J) = 1055.06 watt-seconds (W-s) = 0.293071 watt-hour (W-hr) = 1.05506 x 1010
ergs (erg) = 778.169 foot-pound-force (ft-lbf)

Conversion equivalencies for power

1 horsepower (hp 550 ft-lbf/s) = 745.7 watts (W) = 2544.43 british thermal units per hour
(Btu/hr) = 0.0760181 boiler horsepower (hp boiler)

Acceleration of gravity (free fall), Earth standard

9.806650 meters per second per second (m/s2 ) = 32.1740 feet per second per second (ft/s2 )

Physical constants
Speed of light in a vacuum (c) = 2.9979 108 meters per second (m/s) = 186,281 miles per second
(mi/s)
Avogadros number (NA ) = 6.022 1023 per mole (mol1 )
Electronic charge (e) = 1.602 1019 Coulomb (C)
Boltzmanns constant (k) = 1.38 1023 Joules per Kelvin (J/K)
Stefan-Boltzmann constant () = 5.67 108 Watts per square meter-Kelvin4 (W/m2 K4 )
Molar gas constant (R) = 8.314 Joules per mole-Kelvin (J/mol-K)
Properties of Water
Freezing point at sea level = 32o F = 0o C
Boiling point at sea level = 212o F = 100o C
Density of water at 4o C = 1000 kg/m3 = 1 g/cm3 = 1 kg/liter = 62.428 lb/ft3 = 1.94 slugs/ft3
Specific heat of water at 14o C = 1.00002 calories/go C = 1 BTU/lbo F = 4.1869 Joules/go C
Specific heat of ice 0.5 calories/go C
Specific heat of steam 0.48 calories/go C
Absolute viscosity of water at 20o C = 1.0019 centipoise (cp) = 0.0010019 Pascal-seconds (Pas)
Surface tension of water (in contact with air) at 18o C = 73.05 dynes/cm
pH of pure water at 25o C = 7.0 (pH scale = 0 to 14)
Properties of Dry Air at sea level
Density of dry air at 20o C and 760 torr = 1.204 mg/cm3 = 1.204 kg/m3 = 0.075 lb/ft3 = 0.00235
slugs/ft3
Absolute viscosity of dry air at 20o C and 760 torr = 0.018 centipoise (cp) = 1.8 105 Pascalseconds (Pas)

file conversion constants

4

Questions
Question 1
What is force, the mathematical symbol for force, and what are some of the units used to measure force?
Identify whether these units are English or metric.
file i04142
Question 2
What are some of the units used to measure length or distance, and what are the mathematical symbols
for both of these variables? Identify whether these units are English or metric.
file i03333
Question 3
What is area, the mathematical symbol for area, and what are some of the units used to measure area?
Identify whether these units are English or metric.
file i00006
Question 4
What is volume, the mathematical symbol for volume, and what are some of the units used to measure
volume? Identify whether these units are English or metric.
file i00007
Question 5
Use pairs of volume quantities from the following string of equalities to form unity fractions useful for
the following unit conversions:
1 gallon (gal) = 231.0 cubic inches (in3 ) = 4 quarts (qt)
liters (l)

85 gal
1

220 qt
1

815 fl. oz.

1

139 pt
1

= 8 pints (pt) = 128 fluid ounces (fl. oz.) = 3.7854

= ??? pt

= ??? gal

= ??? l

= ??? in3

After you have set up the proper unity fractions to perform these volumetric conversions, perform the
calculations and show cancellation of units.
file i00997

Question 6
Suppose your recipe book specified 462 quarts of cooking oil to deep-fry a camel, but your local wholesale
food outlet only sold cooking oil by the 55-gallon drum. Realizing the need to convert units, you decide to
convert the 462 quarts into gallons by dividing by 4, then convert gallons into drums by dividing by 55.
A friend of yours decides to help by showing you a simple method for organizing conversion calculations.
On a piece of paper, he writes the following product of fractions:
462 quarts
1 gallon
1 drum

1
4 quarts 55 gallons
Then, he proceeds to show you how to cancel units as though they were equal numbers, leaving only
the unit of drums at the end (462 quarts equals 2.1 drums).
Explain how and why this technique for unit conversions works.
Challenge question: explain why the following example is an improper use of this unit conversion
technique. Converting a temperature rate-of-change from 80o F per minute to degrees C per hour:
0o C
80o F 60 min

o
min
1 hour
32 F
file i00094
Question 7
An oil refinery processes 200,000 barrels of oil per day. Given the equivalence of 42 gallons = 1 barrel
(petroleum), how many gallons per minute is this? Be sure to show how you performed the conversion.
file i00104
Question 8
Sally needs to dispense 1-1/2 pints of flour into a bowl in preparation to bake bread. Unfortunately,
someone has stolen her measuring cups, leaving her with nothing but a teaspoon. How many teaspoons of
flour must Sally count to equal 1-1/2 pints?
Conversion factors:

1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
16 tablespoons = 1 cup
4 quarts = 1 gallon
2 cups = 1 pint
Be sure to show how you used these conversion equivalents to get your answer!
file i00102