Stand

ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Abbe
V optics (dispersion in optical materials)
number

Activity chemistry (Proportion of "active" molecules or

coefficient atoms)

climatology, astronomy (reflectivity of surfaces or

Albedo
bodies)

Archimedes fluid mechanics (motion of fluids due

Ar
number to density differences)

Arrhenius chemistry (ratio of activation energy to thermal

number energy)[5]

Atomic chemistry (mass of atom over one atomic mass unit,

M
weight u, where carbon-12 is exactly 12 u)

Atwood fluid mechanics (onset of instabilities

A
number in fluid mixtures due to density differences)

fluid mechanics, geology (ratio of grain collision

Bagnold
Ba stresses to viscous fluid stresses in flow of
number
a granular materialsuch as grain and sand)[6]
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Bejan
fluid mechanics (dimensionless pressure drop along
number Be
a channel)[7]
(fluid mechanics)

Bejan
thermodynamics (ratio of heat
number
Be transfer irreversibility to total irreversibility due to
(thermodynamics
heat transfer and fluid friction)[8]
)

Bingham fluid mechanics, rheology (ratio of yield stress to

Bm
number viscous stress)[5]

heat transfer (surface vs. volume conductivity of

Biot number Bi
solids)

geology, fluid mechanics, porous media (inertial

Blake
Bl or B over viscous forces in fluid flow through porous
number
media)

Bodenstein chemistry (residence-time distribution; similar to the

Bo or Bd
number axial mass transfer Peclet number)[9]

geology, fluid mechanics, porous

Bond
Bo media (buoyant versus capilary forces, similar to
number
the Etvs number) [10]

Brinkman heat transfer, fluid mechanics (conduction from a

Br
number wall to a viscous fluid)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Brownell fluid mechanics (combination of capillary

NBK
Katz number number and Bond number) [11]

Capillary porous media (viscous forces versus surface

Ca
number tension)

Chandrasek magnetohydrodynamics (ratio of the Lorentz force to

Q
har number the viscosity in magnetic convection)

Coefficient
mechanics (friction of solid bodies in translational
of kinetic
motion)
friction

Coefficient
of static mechanics (friction of solid bodies at rest)
friction

Colburn J turbulence; heat, mass, and momentum transfer

J M , J H, J D
factors (dimensionless transfer coefficients)

Courant
Friedrich mathematics (numerical solutions of hyperbolic
C or
Levy PDEs)[12]
number

Damkohler
Da chemistry (reaction time scales vs. residence time)
number
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Damping
mechanics (the level of damping in a system)
ratio

fluid mechanics (fraction of pressure losses due

Darcy
Cf or fD to friction in a pipe; four times the Fanning friction
friction factor
factor)

Darcy porous media (ratio of permeability to cross-

Da
number sectional area)

Dean
D turbulent flow (vortices in curved ducts)
number

Deborah
De rheology (viscoelastic fluids)
number

acoustics, electronics, control theory (ratio of

Decibel dB
two intensities or powers of a wave)

Drag aeronautics, fluid dynamics (resistance to fluid

cd
coefficient motion)

colloid science (ratio of electric surface

Dukhin
Du conductivity to the electric bulk conductivity
number
in heterogeneous systems)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

convective heat
Eckert
Ec transfer (characterizes dissipation of energy; ratio
number
of kinetic energy to enthalpy)

Ekman
Ek geophysics (viscous versus Coriolis forces)
number

Elasticity economics (response

E
(economics) of demand or supply to price changes)

Entropy physics, information theory (log of the number of

(physics) states)[13]

Etvs
Eo fluid mechanics (shape of bubbles or drops)
number

Ericksen fluid dynamics (liquid crystal flow

Er
number behavior; viscous over elastic forces)

Euler hydrodynamics (stream pressure versus inertia force

Eu
number s)

Euler's
e mathematics (base of the natural logarithm)
number
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Excess
heat transfer, fluid dynamics (change in internal
temperature
energy versus kinetic energy)[14]
coefficient

Fanning fluid mechanics (fraction of pressure losses due

f
friction factor to friction in a pipe; 1/4th the Darcy friction factor)[15]

Feigenbaum
, chaos theory (period doubling)[16]
constants

Fine quantum electrodynamics (QED) (coupling

structure constant characterizing the strength of
constant the electromagnetic interaction)

optics, photography (ratio of focal

f-number f
length to diameter of aperture)

Fpplvon
Krmn virology, solid mechanics (thin-shell buckling)
number

Fourier heat transfer, mass transfer (ratio of diffusive rate

Fo
number versus storage rate)

Fresnel
F optics (slit diffraction)[17]
number
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Froude fluid mechanics (wave and surface behaviour; ratio

Fr
number of a body's inertia to gravitational forces)

Gain electronics (signal output to signal input)

bicycling (system of representing gearing; length

Gain ratio
traveled over length pedaled)[18]

Galilei
Ga fluid mechanics (gravitational over viscous forces)
number

mathematics, aesthetics (long side length of self-

Golden ratio
similar rectangle)

Grtler fluid dynamics (boundary layer flow along a concave

G
number wall)

Graetz heat transfer, fluid mechanics (laminar flow through

Gz
number a conduit; also used in mass transfer)

Grashof heat transfer, natural convection (ratio of

Gr
number the buoyancy to viscous force)

Gravitational gravitation (attraction between

coupling two massy elementary particles; analogous to
constant the Fine structure constant)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Hatta chemical engineering (adsorption enhancement due

Ha
number to chemical reaction)

Hagen heat transfer (ratio of the buoyancy to viscous force

Hg
number in forced convection)

Hydraulic fluid mechanics, groundwater flow (pressure

i
gradient head over distance)

Iribarren wave mechanics (breaking surface gravity waves on

Ir
number a slope)

chemistry (ratio of sensible to latent

Jakob
Ja energy absorbed during liquid-vapor phase
Number
change)[19]

Karlovitz turbulent combustion (characteristic flow time times

Ka
number flame stretch rate)

Keulegan
fluid dynamics (ratio of drag force to inertia for a bluff
Carpenter KC
object in oscillatory fluid flow)
number

Knudsen gas dynamics (ratio of the molecular mean free

Kn
number path length to a representative physical length scale)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

medicine (hemodialysis and peritoneal

Kt/V Kt/V
dialysis treatment; dimensionless time)

Kutateladze
Ku fluid mechanics (counter-current two-phase flow)[20]
number

fluid dynamics (free

Laplace
La convection within immiscible fluids; ratio of surface
number
tension to momentum-transport)

Lewis heat and mass transfer (ratio of thermal to mass

Le
number diffusivity)

Lift aerodynamics (lift available from an airfoil at a

CL
coefficient given angle of attack)

Lockhart
Martinelli two-phase flow (flow of wet gases; liquid fraction)[21]
parameter

Love
h, k, l geophysics (solidity of earth and other planets)
numbers

Lundquist plasma physics (ratio of a resistive time to an Alfvn

S
number wave crossing time in a plasma)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Mach gas dynamics (compressible flow;

M or Ma
number dimensionless velocity)

Magnetic
magnetohydrodynamics (ratio of
Reynolds Rm
magnetic advection to magnetic diffusion)
number

Manning
roughness n open channel flow (flow driven by gravity)[22]
coefficient

Marangoni fluid mechanics (Marangoni flow; thermal surface

Mg
number tension forces over viscous forces)

Morton
Mo fluid dynamics (determination of bubble/drop shape)
number

Nusselt heat transfer (forced convection; ratio

Nu
number of convective to conductive heat transfer)

Ohnesorge fluid dynamics (atomization of liquids, Marangoni

Oh
number flow)

Pclet heat transfer (advectiondiffusion problems;

Pe
number total momentum transfer to molecular heat transfer)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

coating (adhesion of microstructures with substrate)[

Peel number NP 23]

charged particle transport (measure of the strength

Perveance K
of space charge in a charged particle beam)

mathematics (ratio of a circle's circumference to

Pi
its diameter)

Poisson's elasticity (load in transverse and longitudinal

ratio direction)

Porosity geology, porous media (void fraction of the medium)

Power factor P/S electronics (real power to apparent power)

Power electronics (power consumption by

Np
number agitators; resistance force versus inertia force)

Prandtl heat transfer (ratio of viscous diffusion rate

Pr
number over thermal diffusion rate)

Prater reaction engineering (ratio of heat evolution to heat

number conduction within a catalyst pellet)[24]
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

aerodynamics, hydrodynamics (pressure experience

Pressure
CP d at a point on an airfoil; dimensionless pressure
coefficient
variable)

physics, engineering (damping of oscillator or resona

Q factor Q
tor; energy stored versus energy lost)

Radian mea mathematics (measurement of planar angles, 1

rad
sure radian = 180/ degrees)

Rayleigh heat transfer (buoyancy versus viscous forces in free

Ra
number convection)

Refractive electromagnetism, optics (speed of light in a vacuum

n
index over speed of light in a material)

hydrometers, material comparisons (ratio

Relative
RD of density of a material to a reference material
density
usually water)

Relative magnetostatics (ratio of the permeability of a specific

permeability medium to free space)

Relative electrostatics (ratio of capacitance of

permittivity test capacitor with dielectric material versus vacuum)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Reynolds fluid mechanics (ratio of

Re
number fluid inertial and viscous forces)[5]

Richardson fluid dynamics (effect of buoyancy on flow stability;

Ri
number ratio of potential over kinetic energy)[25]

Rockwell mechanical hardness (indentation hardness of a

scale material)

Rolling
vehicle dynamics (ratio of force needed for motion of
resistance Crr
a wheel over the normal force)
coefficient

Roshko
Ro fluid dynamics (oscillating flow, vortex shedding)
number

Rossby
Ro geophysics (ratio of inertial to Coriolis force)
number

Rouse sediment transport (ratio of the sediment fall

P or Z
number velocity and the upwards velocity of grain)

Schmidt mass transfer (viscous over

Sc
number molecular diffusion rate)[26]
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

boundary layer flow (ratio of displacement thickness

Shape factor H
to momentum thickness)

Sherwood mass transfer (forced convection; ratio

Sh
number of convective to diffusive mass transport)

sediment transport (threshold of sediment

Shields
or movement due to fluid motion; dimensionless shear
parameter
stress)

Sommerfeld
S hydrodynamic lubrication (boundary lubrication)[27]
number

Specific
SG (same as Relative density)
gravity

Stanton
St heat transfer and fluid dynamics (forced convection)
number

Stefan phase change, thermodynamics (ratio of sensible

Ste
number heat to latent heat)

Stokes particles suspensions (ratio of characteristic time of

Stk or Sk
number particle to time of flow)
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

materials science, elasticity (displacement between

Strain
particles in the body relative to a reference length)

Strouhal fluid dynamics (continuous and pulsating flow;

St or Sr
number nondimensional frequency)[28]

Stuart magnetohydrodynamics (ratio of electromagnetic to

N
number inertial forces)

Taylor fluid dynamics (rotating fluid flows; inertial forces due

Ta
number to rotation of a fluid versus viscous forces)

Ursell wave mechanics (nonlinearity of surface gravity

U
number waves on a shallow fluid layer)

porous media (governs the effects of porosity ,

Vadasz
Va the Prandtl number and the Darcy number on flow in
number
a porous medium) [29]

van 't Hoff

i quantitative analysis (Kf and Kb)
factor

Wallis multiphase flows (nondimensional superficial

j*
parameter velocity)[30]
 Stand
ard
Name Definition Field of application
symb
ol

Weaver
combustion (laminar burning velocity relative
flame speed Wea
to hydrogen gas)[31]
number

Weber multiphase flow (strongly curved surfaces; ratio

We
number of inertia to surface tension)

Weissenber viscoelastic flows (shear rate times the relaxation

Wi
g number time)[32]

biofluid mechanics (continuous and pulsating flows;

Womersley ratio of pulsatile flow frequency to viscous effects)[33]
number