Dimensions, Units, Conversion Factors, and Significant Digits

Introduction
o There is a difference between dimensions and units. A dimension is a measure of
a physical variable (without numerical values), while a unit is a way to assign a
number or measurement to that dimension.
o For example, length is a dimension, but it is measured in units of feet (ft) or
meters (m).
o There are three primary unit systems in use today:
the International System of Units (SI units, from Le Systeme
International dUnites, more commonly simply called metric units)
the English Engineering System of Units (commonly called English
units)
the British Gravitational System of Units (BG)
o The latter two are similar, except for the choice of primary mass unit and use of
the degree symbol, as discussed below.

Primary dimensions and units

o In total, there are seven primary dimensions. Primary (sometimes called basic)
dimensions are defined as independent or fundamental dimensions, from which
other dimensions can be obtained.
o The primary dimensions are: mass, length, time, temperature, electric current,
amount of light, and amount of matter. For most mechanical and thermal science
analyses, however, only the first four of these are required. The others will not be
of concern to most mechanical engineering analyses.
o In order to assign numbers to these primary dimensions, primary units must be
assigned. These are listed in the table below for the three unit systems:

Primary Symbol SI unit BG unit English unit

Dimension
mass m (sometimes M) kg slug lbm (pound-
(kilogram) mass)
length L (sometimes l) m (meter) ft (foot) ft (foot)
time t (sometimes T) s (second) s (second) s (second)
temperature T (sometimes ) K (Kelvin) oR (degree
R (Rankine)
Rankine)

electric current I (sometimes i) A (ampere) A (ampere) A (ampere)

amount of light C (sometimes I) c (candela) c (candela) c (candela)
(luminous
intensity)
amount of matter n or N mol (mole) mol (mole) mol (mole)
(sometimes )
 o All other dimensions can be derived as combinations of these seven primary
dimensions. These are called secondary dimensions, with their corresponding
secondary units. A few examples are given in the table below:

Secondary Symbol SI unit BG unit English unit

Dimension
force F (sometimes N (Newton = lbf (pound- lbf (pound-force)
f) kg m/s2) force)
acceleration a m/s2 ft/s2 ft/s2
pressure p or P N/m2, i.e. Pa lbf/ft2 (psf) lbf/in2 (psi) (note:
(Pascal) 1 ft = 12 in)
energy E (sometimes J (Joule = N ft lbf (foot ft lbf (foot
e) m) pound) pound)
power P W (watt = J/s) ft lbf/s ft lbf/s

o Note that there are many other units, both metric and English, in use today. For
example, power is often expressed in units of Btu/hr, Btu/s, cal/s, ergs/s, or
horsepower, in addition to the standard units of watt and ft lbf/s. There are
conversion factors listed in many textbooks to enable conversion from any of
these units to any other.

Comment about the gravitational conversion constant, gc

o Some authors define a gravitational conversion constant, gc, which is inserted into
Newtons second law of motion. I.e., instead of F = m a, they write F = m a/gc,
where gc is defined in the English Engineering System of Units as

and in SI units as

o The present author discourages use of this constant, since it leads to much
confusion. Instead, Newtons law should remain in the fundamental form in
which it was created, without an artificial constant thrown into the equation,
simply for units sake.
o There has been much confusion (and numerical error!) because of the differences
between lbf, lbm, and slug. The use of gc has complicated and further confused
the issue, in this authors opinion. The following is an attempt to clarify some of
this confusion:

The relationship between force and mass units

o The relationship between force, mass, and acceleration can be clearly understood
with Newtons second law. The following is provided to avoid confusion,
especially with English units.
o SI units:
 Relationship Newtons second law, F = m a. [Note: Bold notation indicates a
vector.] By definition of the fundamental units, this yields 1 N =
1 kg m/s2.
Conversion

Discussion The above expression is dimensionless and has a value of 1. Thus

it is the conversion factor with which to multiply or divide any
equation to simplify the units.
Example How much force (in Newtons) is required to accelerate a mass of
13.3 kg at a constant acceleration of 1.20 m/s2?

Solution:

to the right, since Fx is the x-component of vector F, and ax is the

x-component of acceleration vector a.
Terminology It is not proper to say that 1.00 kg equals 9.81 N, but it is proper
to say that 1.00 kg weighs 9.81 N under standard earth gravity.
This is obtained by utilizing Newtons second law with
gravitational acceleration, i.e.

o English units:

Relationship Newtons second law, F = m a. [Note: Bold notation indicates a

vector.] By definition of the fundamental units, this yields 1 lbf =
1 slug ft/s2, or 1 lbf = 32.174 lbm ft/s2.
Conversion
or or
Discussion The above expressions are dimensionless and each has a value of
1. Thus any of them can be considered a conversion factor with
which to multiply or divide any equation to simplify the units.
Example How much force (in lbf) is required to accelerate a mass of 13.3
lbm at a constant acceleration of 1.20 ft/s2?
 Solution:

to the right, since Fx is the x-component of vector F, and ax is the

x-component of acceleration vector a.
Terminology It is not proper to say that one lbm equals one lbf, but it is proper
to say that one lbm weighs one lbf under standard earth gravity.
This is obtained by utilizing Newtons second law with
gravitational acceleration, i.e.

The Principle of Dimensional Homogeneity

In any equation, each additive term must have the same dimensions. In simple terms, you
cannot add apples and oranges.
o Example - The area of a rectangle is the product of its width and its height, A = W
H. The dimensions of both terms in this equation are {length2}. The equation A =
H is clearly wrong, i.e. it is dimensionally inconsistent since the dimensions of the
left term are {length2} while those of the right term are {length}.
o The Principle of Dimensional Homogeneity is sometimes useful when checking
the algebra of a problem solution. Namely, dimensional inconsistency in an
equation is a sure sign of an algebraic error!
o The Principle of Dimensional Homogeneity also extends to units. The best way to
avoid unit errors is to list the units along with any numbers supplied to an
equation. Also, it is best to introduce conversion factors in the form of ratios. In
the above example, suppose the width W of the rectangle is 48.0 inches, and the
Height H is 2.0 feet. The area A is desired in square feet, and is calculated
correctly as follows:
A = W H = (48.0 in) (2.0 ft) (1 ft / 12 in) = 8.0 ft2.

Significant Digits
Since the proliferation of calculators in the 1970's, the concept of significant digits has
been largely ignored. As a result, many students and practicing engineers today present
answers to five, six, or more digits, even when only two or three digits are significant.
Many students, for example, will write out every digit (perhaps eight or ten) that is
displayed on their calculators, never even thinking about how many of those digits are
actually meaningful. The present author encourages all students and engineers to consider
significant digits in all written forms of communication - reports, papers, homework,
exams, etc. Below is a discussion of the meaning and application of significant digits in
engineering.
o By default, an integer has an infinite number of significant digits. For example,
the number 43 implies exactly 43, as when counting the number of students in a
classroom. Unfortunately, many authors do not follow this convention, and it is
unclear to the reader how many significant digits there really are, especially when
there are trailing zeroes.
o The number of significant digits is determined by the overall accuracy of a
measurement. For example, suppose the diameter of a pipe is measured to be 2.53
mm. By convention, the measurement is only good to the least significant digit;
here the micrometer is accurate to 0.01 mm, but the exact diameter may lie
anywhere between 2.525 and 2.535 mm. In this example, the reading is good to
three significant digits.
o When considering the number of significant digits, leading zeroes for numbers
below unity do not count, but zeroes within a value do count. For example, 0.367
has three significant digits - the leading zero does not count. Note that this same
value can be written in exponential notation as 3.67 x 10-1, where the number of
significant digits is more obvious. Consider the value 34.05. The zero here does
count, so that the value has four significant digits.
o Trailing zeroes are a little more tricky, especially when not using exponential
notation. For example, suppose a pressure reading of 101,300 Pascals is given. It
is not obvious how many (if any) of the trailing zeroes are significant. Most
likely, the pressure gage is only accurate to a hundred Pascals, so it is more
appropriate to write this measurement as 101.3 kPa, avoiding the trailing zeroes
altogether. The number of significant digits in this case is four. A reading of
101.30 kPa implies that the trailing zero is significant, and the total number of
significant digits is five.
o If trailing zeroes are significant, there are two ways to indicate this: First, use
exponential notation, which clearly indicates the accuracy. For example, if a
reading of 1000 is accurate to all four digits, one would write it as 1.000 x 103.
Second, one can write "1000." as the numerical value. The decimal point at the
end of the number indicates that all three zeroes are significant. It is understood,
then, that "1000." represents four significant digits of accuracy. In this same
example, if only three digits are significant, one would write the value as 1.00 x
103. If exponential notation is not desired, but one still wishes to indicate the
number of digits, one can write "1000 to three significant digits".
o Here is an important rule to remember: When performing calculations or
manipulations of several parameters, the final result is only as accurate as the
least accurate parameter in the problem. For example, suppose A and B are
multiplied to obtain C. If A = 2.3601 (five significant digits), and B = 0.34 (two
significant digits), then C = 0.80 (only two digits are significant in the final
result). Note that most students are tempted to write C = 0.802434, with six
significant digits, since that is what is displayed on a calculator after multiplying
these two numbers. Let's analyze this simple example carefully. Suppose the exact
value of B is 0.33501, which is read by the instrument as 0.34. Also suppose A is
exactly 2.3601, as measured by a more accurate instrument. In this case, C = A
 times B = 0.79066 to five significant digits. Note that our first answer, C = 0.80 is
off by one digit in the second decimal place. Likewise, if B is 0.34499, read by
the instrument as 0.34, the product of A and B would be 0.81421 to five
significant digits. Our original answer of 0.80 is again off by one digit in the
second decimal place. The main point here is that 0.80 (to two significant digits)
is the best we can expect from this multiplication since, to begin with, one of the
values had only two significant digits. Another way of looking at this is to say that
beyond the first two digits in the answer, the rest of the digits are meaningless or
not significant. For example, if one reports what his calculator displays, i.e.
2.3601 times 0.34 equals 0.802434, the last four digits are meaningless. As shown
above, the final result may lie between 0.79 and 0.81 - any digits beyond the two
significant digits are not only meaninless, but misleading, since it implies more
accuracy to the reader than is really there.
o Most electronic instruments are good to only three significant digits. When in
doubt, for most engineering analyses, three digits are usually the maximum that
can be expected.
o When writing out intermediate results in a calculation, it is okay to record more
digits than the number which is significant, as this can avoid round-off errors in
subsequent calculations. However, when displaying the final answer, the number
of significant digits should be taken into consideration.