SYMBOLS, UNITS, AND MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES

TABLE 2 Subscripts for Symbols

Subscript
c

e
f

fus
H
In
J
K
L
m
M
mix
P
P
r
s
sol
sp
sub
surr
tot
V
vap
w
0

1B

A3

(continued)
Meaning

Example (units)

concentration
combustion
critical
nonexpansion (extra) work
formation

equilibrium constant, Kc
enthalpy of combustion, Hc (kJmol1)
critical temperature, Tc (K)
electrical work, we (J)
enthalpy of formation, Hf (kJmol1)
formation constant, Kf
freezing temperature, Tf (K)
enthalpy of fusion, Hfus (kJmol1)
Henrys law constant, kH
indicator constant, KIn
partial pressure, PJ (Pa)
kinetic energy, EK (J)
lattice enthalpy, HL (kJmol1)
molar volume, Vm  V/n (Lmol1)
Michaelis constant, KM
enthalpy of mixing, Hmix (kJmol1)
potential energy, EP (J)
heat capacity at constant pressure, CP (JK1)
reaction enthalpy, Hr (kJmol1)
specific heat capacity, Cs  C/m (JK1g1)
enthalpy of solution, Hsol (kJmol1)
solubility product, Ksp
enthalpy of sublimation, Hsub (kJmol1)
entropy of surroundings, Ssurr (JK1)
total entropy, Stot (JK1)
heat capacity at constant volume, CV (JK1)
enthalpy of vaporization, Hvap (kJmol1)
water autoprotolysis constant, Kw
initial concentration, [A]0
wavefunction, 0

freezing
fusion
Henry
indicator
substance
kinetic
lattice
molar
Michaelis
mixing
potential
constant pressure
reaction
specific
solution
solubility product
sublimation
surroundings
total
constant volume
vaporization
water
initial
ground state

UNITS AND UNIT CONVERSIONS

Each physical quantity is reported as a multiple of a

defined unit:
Physical quantity  numerical value  unit
For instance, a length may be expressed as a multiple
of the unit of length, the meter, m; so we write l 
2.0 m if the length is the product of 2.0 (the
multiple) times the unit. All units are denoted by
Roman letters, such as m for meter and s for second,
that distinguish them from the physical quantity to
which they refer.
The Systme International (SI), is the internationally
accepted form and elaboration of the metric system. It
defines seven base units in terms of which all physical
quantities can be expressed:
meter, m The meter, the unit of length, is the length
of the path traveled by light during a time
interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
kilogram, kg The kilogram, the unit of mass, is the
mass of a standard cylinder maintained at a
laboratory in France.

second, s The second, the unit of time, is

9 192 631 770 periods of a certain spectroscopic
transition in a cesium-133 atom.
ampere, A The ampere, the unit of electric current,
is defined in terms of the force exerted between
two parallel wires carrying the current.
kelvin, K The kelvin, the unit of temperature, is
1/273.16 of the absolute temperature of the triple
point of water.
mole, mol The mole, the unit of chemical amount,
is the amount of substance that contains as many
specified entities as there are atoms in exactly
12 g of carbon-12.
candela, cd The candela, the unit of luminous
intensity, is defined in terms of a carefully specified
source. We do not use the candela in this book.
Any unit may be modified by one of the prefixes
given in Table 3, which denote multiplication or division
by a power of 10 of the unit. Thus, 1 mm  103 m and
1 MK  106 K.

A4

APPENDIX 1

TABLE 3 Typical
Prefix:
Abbreviation:
Factor:
Prefix:
Abbreviation:
Factor:

SI Prefixes
decada
10

kilok
103

megaM
106

gigaG
109

teraT
1012

decid
101

centic
102

millim
103

micro (mu)
106

nanon
109

picop
1012

femtof
1015

attoa
1018

zeptoz
1021

kg/m3 or, equivalently, kgm3. The SI convention is that

a power, such as the 3 in cm3, refers to the unit and its
multiple. That is, cm3 should be interpreted as (cm)3.
Many of the more common derived units have names
and abbreviations of their own, such as joule, J, for the
combination kgm2s2. Table 4 lists some of these
derived units. Note that the names of units derived from
the names of people all begin with a lowercase letter but
their abbreviations are uppercase.

Derived units are combinations of the base units.

They are used to express physical quantities that are
built up from the basic physical observables. For example, volume is the product of three lengths, and so it is
expressed as a product of the base unit meter for each
occurrence of the length; therefore, the derived unit of
volume is (meter)3, denoted m3. Similarly, density, the
mass of a sample divided by its volume, is expressed in
terms of the base unit for mass divided by the derived
unit for volumenamely, kilogram/(meter)3, denoted

TABLE 4 Derived Units with Special Names

Physical quantity

Name of unit

Abbreviation

Definition

absorbed dose
dose equivalent
electric charge
electric potential
energy
force
frequency
power
pressure
volume

gray
sievert
coulomb
volt
joule
newton
hertz
watt
pascal
liter

Gy
Sv
C
V
J
N
Hz
W
Pa
L

Jkg1
Jkg1
As
JC1
Nm, kgm2s2
kgms2
s1
Js1
Nm2, kgm1s2
dm3

It is often necessary to convert one set of units (for

instance, calories for energy and inches for length) into

SI units. Table 5 lists some common conversions; the

values in boldface type are exact.

TABLE 5 Relations Between Units

Physical quantity
mass

Common unit

Abbreviation

SI equivalent

pound
tonne
ton (short, U.S.)
ton (long, U.K.)

lb
t
ton
ton

0.453 592 37 kg
103 kg (1 Mg)
907.184 74 kg
1016.046 kg

length

inch
foot

in.
ft

2.54 cm
30.48 cm

volume

U.S. quart
U.S. gallon
Imperial quart
Imperial gallon

qt
gal
qt
gal

0.946
3.785
1.136
4.546

time

minute
hour

min
h

60 s
3600 s

352 5 L
41 L
522 5 L
09 L

(continued)

SYMBOLS, UNITS, AND MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES

TABLE 5 Relations Between Unit

Physical quantity
energy

(continued)

Common unit

Abbreviation

SI equivalent

calorie
(thermochemical)
electronvolt
kilowatt-hour
liter-atmosphere

cal

4.184 J

eV
kWh
Latm

1.602 177  1019 J

3.6  106 J
101.325 J

pressure

torr
atmosphere
bar
pounds/square inch

Torr
atm
bar
psi

133.322 Pa
101 325 Pa ( 760 Torr)
105 Pa
6894.76 Pa

power

horsepower

hp

745.7 W

dipole moment

debye

3.335 64  1030 Cm

To convert between units, we use a conversion factor

of the form
Conversion factor 

units required
units given

constructed from the relation

Units given  units required
taken from information like that in Table 5 and applied
as follows:
Information required 
information given  conversion factor
When using a conversion factor, we treat the units just
like algebraic quantities: they are multiplied or canceled
in the normal way. Thus, the units in the denominator of
the conversion factor cancel the units in the original
data, leaving the units in the numerator of the conversion factor. The same procedure can be used to convert
decimal multiples or fractions of units.
EXAMPLE 1

Converting units

Suppose we want to convert a volume of 1.7 qt into liters.

First, we identify the relation between the two units from
Table 5:

1 qt  0.946 352 5 L
The conversion factor from the units given (qt) to the units
required (L) is

Conversion factor 

0.946 352 5 L
1 qt

Therefore,

Volume (L)  (1.7 qt) 

A5

0.946 352 5 L
 1.6 L
1 qt

We have rounded the answer to two significant figures, as

explained in Appendix 1C.

SELF-TEST 1A Express the height of a person 6.00 ft tall in

centimeters.
[Answer: 183 cm]
SELF-TEST 1B Express the mass in ounces of a 250.-g
package of breakfast cereal.

It is often necessary to convert a unit that is raised to

a power (including negative powers). In such cases, the
conversion factor is raised to the same power. For example, to convert a density of 11 700 kgm3 into grams
per centimeter cubed (gcm3), we use the two relations
1 cm  102 m

1 kg  103 g
as follows:
Density (gcm3)

 (11700 kgm3) 
 a11700
 11.7

103 g
1 cm 3
 a 2 b
1 kg
10 m

kg
103 g
106 m3

3b 
m
1 kg
1 cm3

g
 11.7 gcm3
cm3

SELF-TEST A2A Express a density of 6.5 gmm3 in

micrograms per nanometer cubed (gnm3).
[Answer: 6.5  1012 gnm3]
SELF-TEST A2B Express an acceleration of 9.81 ms2 in
kilometers per hour squared.

The conversion of temperatures is carried out

slightly differently. Because the Fahrenheit degree (F) is
smaller by a factor of 59 than a Celsius degree (because
there are 180F between the freezing point and boiling
point of water but only 100C between the same two
points) and because 0C coincides with 32F, we use
Temperature (F) 

5 95  Temperature (C)}  32

A6

APPENDIX 1

(The 32 is exact.) For example, to convert 37C (blood

temperature) into degrees Fahrenheit, we write
Temperature (F) 

( 95  37 )  32  99

and the temperature is reported as 99F. A more sophisticated way of expressing the same relation is to write
Temperature/F 

( 95  temperature/C )  32

In this expression, we treat temperature units like numbers and cancel them when it is appropriate. The same
conversion then becomes
Temperature/F 

5 95  (37C)/C}  32  ( 95  37 )  32  99

and multiplication through by F gives

Temperature  99F

The corresponding expression for conversion between

the Celsius and Kelvin scales is
Temperature/C  temperature/K  273.15
(The 273.15 is exact.) Note that the size of the degree
Celsius is the same as that of the kelvin.

1C

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

In scientific notation, a number is written as A  10a.

Here A is a decimal number with one nonzero digit in
front of the decimal point and a is a whole number. For
example, 333 is written 3.33  102 in scientific notation,
because 102  10  10  100:
333  3.33  100  3.33  102
We use
101  10
102  10  10  100
103  10  10  10  1000
104  10  10  10  10  10 000
and so on. Note that the number of zeros following 1 is
equal to the power of 10.
Numbers between 0 and 1 are expressed in the same
way, but with a negative power of 10; they have the form
1
A  10a, with 101  10
 0.1, and so on. Thus,
0.0333 in decimal notation is 3.33  102 because
102 

1
10

1
10

1
100

0.0333  3.33 

1
100

 3.33  102

We use
102  101  101  0.01
103  101  101  101  0.001
104  101  101  101  101  0.0001
When a negative power of 10 is written out as a decimal
number, the number of zeros following the decimal point

is one less than the number (disregarding the sign) to

which 10 is raised. Thus, 105 is written as a decimal
point followed by 5  1  4 zeros and then a 1:
105  101  101  101  101  101
 0.000 01
The digits in a reported measurement are called the
significant figures. There are two significant figures
(written 2 sf) in 1.2 cm3 and 3 sf in 1.78 g. To find the
number of significant figures in a measurement, we first
express the data in scientific notation, leaving one
nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. Then we
count the total number of digits. For instance, 0.0025 kg
is written as 2.5  103 kg, a value with 2 sf.
Some zeros are legitimately measured digits, but
other zeros serve only to mark the place of the decimal
point. Trailing zeros (the last ones after a decimal point),
as in 22.0 mL, are significant, because they were measured. Thus, 22.0 mL has 3 sf. The captive zero in
80.1 kg is a measured digit, and so 80.1 kg has 3 sf.
However, the leading digits in 0.0025 g are not significant; they are only placeholders used to indicate powers
of 10, not measured numbers. We can see that they are
only placeholders by reporting the mass as 2.5  103 g,
which has 2 sf.
We distinguish between the results of measurements,
which are always uncertain, and the results of counting,
which are exact. For example, the report 12 eggs
means that there are exactly 12 eggs present, not a
number somewhere between 11.5 and 12.5.
Some ambiguity arises with whole numbers ending
in zero. Does a length reported as 400 m have 3 sf
(4.00  102), 2 sf (4.0  102), or only 1 sf (4  102)? In
such cases, the use of scientific notation removes any
ambiguity. If it is not convenient to use scientific notation, a final decimal point can be used to indicate that
every digit to the left of the decimal is significant. Thus,
400 m is ambiguous and cannot be taken to have more
than 1 sf unless other information is given. However,
400. m unambiguously has 3 sf.
Different rounding-off rules are needed for addition
(and its reverse, subtraction) and multiplication (and its
reverse, division). In both procedures, we round off the
answers to the correct number of significant figures.
Rounding off In calculations, round up if the last
digit is above 5 and round down if it is below 5.
For numbers ending in 5, always round to the
nearest even number. For example, 2.35 rounds
to 2.4 and 2.65 rounds to 2.6. In a calculation
with multiple steps, round off only in the final
step; if possible, carry all digits in the memory of
the calculator until that stage.
Addition and subtraction When adding or
subtracting, make sure that the number of
decimal places in the result is the same as the
smallest number of decimal places in the data.
For example, 0.10 g  0.024 g  0.12 g.