Appendix A

Units and Conversions

A.1 Length [L]
1 m = 3.281 ft = 39.37 in. = 1.094 yd
1 ft = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm = 12 in.
1 in. = 2.540 cm
1 mile = 1.609 km = 1609 m = 5280 ft

A.2 Area [L2 ]

1 m2 = 10.76 ft2 = 1.197 yd2 = 1550 in.2
1 ft2 = 144 in.2 = 0.1111 yd2 = 0.0929 m2 = 929 cm2
1 mile2 = 2.590 km2 = 2.788 × 107 ft2 = 640 acres
1 acre = 43,560 ft2 = 4047 m2 = 0.4047 hectares (ha) = 4.047 × 10−3 km2
1 km2 = 0.3861 mile2 = 247 acres = 100 ha

A.3 Volume [L3 ]

1 m3 = 35.31 ft3 = 1.309 yd3 = 1000 L = 106 cm3
1 ft3 = 1728 in.3 = 0.02832 m3 = 2.832 × 104 cm3 = 7.482 U.S. gal
1 L = 1.057 quarts = 0.2642 U.S. gal = 0.2200 U.K. gal
1 acre-ft = 43,560 ft3 = 1234 m3

A.4 Time [T]

1 day = 24 hours = 1440 min = 86,400 sec

621
622 Appendix A: Units and Conversions

A.5 Mass [M] and Weight [ML/T2 ]

at Earth’s Surface
Weight is a force equal to mass × g, where g = 9.81 m/sec2 .
1 kg (mass) = 2.20 lb (weight) = 9.81 N (weight) = 1000 g (mass)
1 lb (weight) = 0.454 kg (mass) = 4.45 N (weight) = 16 oz (weight)
1 oz (weight) = 28.35 g (mass)
1 short ton (weight) = 2000 lb (weight) = 907.2 kg (mass)
= 0.9072 tonne (mass)

A.6 Force [ML/T2 ]

Force has dimensions of mass × acceleration.
1 lb = 4.448 newton (N = kg · m/sec2 ) = 16 oz
1 N = 105 dyne (g · cm/sec2 )

A.7 Pressure or Stress [M/LT2 ]

Pressure and stress both have dimensions of force/area.
1 lb/ft2 = 47.88 N/m2 (N/m2 = Pa = pascal)
1 bar = 105 N/m2
1 lb/in.2 (psi) = 144 lb/ft2
1 atm = 1.01 bar = 14.7 psi = 760 mm Hg = 760 torr

A.8 Energy [ML2 /T2 ]

Energy (work) has dimensions of force × distance.
1 ft · lb = 1.356 joule (J = N · m)
1 kJ = 1000 J = 238.8 calorie = 0.9478 Btu

A.9 Power [ML2 /T3 ]

Power is energy/time.
1 ft · lb/sec = 1.356 watt (W = J/sec)

A.10 Angle
360 degrees = 2π radians
 A.15 Unit Prefixes 623

A.11 Temperature
◦C = (5/9) (◦ F − 32) = K − 273.2
◦F = (9/5) ◦ C + 32

A.12 Velocity and Hydraulic Conductivity [L/T]

1 m/day = 3.281 ft/day = 1.157 × 10−3 cm/sec
1 cm/sec = 3.281 ft/sec = 2835 ft/day = 864.0 m/day
1 U.S. gal/day/ft2 = 0.1337 ft/day = 0.04074 m/day

A.13 Transmissivity [L2 /T]

1 m2 /day = 10.76 ft2 /day = 80.52 U.S. gal/day/ft

A.14 Discharge (Flow Rate) [L3 /T]

1 m3 /sec = 35.31 ft3 /sec = 1000 L/sec = 15,850 U.S. gal/min

A.15 Unit Prefixes

In the International System (SI) of units, there is a consistent set of prefixes
that applies to all units (Table A.1). The scale of a unit with a prefix is the scale
of the base unit multiplied by the factor listed in Table A.1. For example, a
micrometer (µm) is 10−6 m.

Table A.1 SI Unit Prefixes

Prefix Symbol Factor
tera T 1012
giga G 109
mega M 106
kilo k 103
hecto h 102
centi c 10−2
milli m 10−3
micro µ 10−6
nano n 10−9
pico p 10−12
624 Appendix A: Units and Conversions

A.16 Performing Unit Conversions

It is easy to perform any unit conversion by thinking of the ratio of an equiv-
alent pair of units as equal to the factor one. Any number of these ratios can
be multiplied in an equation without invalidating the equation. For example,
0.0035 acres/day (an unheard-of transmissivity unit) would be converted into
m2 /sec with the following equation:

0.0035 acres 43, 560 ft2 0.3048 m 2

 
day
× × ×
day acre ft 86, 400 sec
= 1.64 × 10−4 m2 /sec