Australian College of Kuwait

School of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering

Dr. Sayed M. Soleimani, P.E., P.Eng.

15FCVE222: Steel Structures

Week 1: US/SI Systems of Units

Physical Quantities and Dimensions
 Physical quantity: a measurable attribute of a physical
object, substance or process.
 Example: The speed of the car is a physical quantity, because it has to
do with a physical object (the car) and it can be measured.
 Fundamental quantities can be used to define or describe
all other physical quantities and relations.
 Provide system of measurements (mass, length, time,
temperature, and plane angle).
 Fundamental dimensions can be combined in numerous
ways to form derived dimensions.
 Examples: area, volume, force, energy, pressure, density, acceleration,
etc.

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Physical Quantities and Dimensions
 All equations involving physical quantities must be
dimensionally homogeneous (dimensionally balanced).
 Example:
What is the volume of a room 4 m long, 2.5 m wide and
2.8 m high?
V= a x b x c = 4 x 2.5 x 2.8 = 28 m3
In terms of units: m x m x m = m3

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Measurement and System of Units
 All physical quantities are measureable using instruments and
techniques appropriate to the quantity to be measured.
 Precise instruments with relative ease and high degree of precision.
 Crude approximations by measuring other quantities associated with the object or
process under investigation.
 Metrology: the science of engineering measurements and deals with
the essential requirements of uniformity of units and standards, as
well as, the instruments and techniques used for practical engineering
measurements.
 Unit: is an agreed-on part of a physical quantity, defined by reference
to some arbitrary material standard or to a natural phenomenon.
 The latest worldwide move towards a universal, simple and
internationally accepted system of units is known as “The
International System of Units (SI)”.

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The International System of Units (SI)
 The SI system comprises a set of base units and derived units
corresponding to the fundamental and derived dimensions.
 Advantages of SI system:
 Each physical quantity has one SI base unit only.
 The system is coherent, i.e. the product or quotient of any two unit quantities in
the system is the unit of the resultant quantity.

Table 1: SI base and supplementary units

Physical quantity Name of unit Symbol
Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram kg
Time Second s
Temperature Kelvin K
Plane angle Radian rad

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The International System of Units (SI)
 In order to express decimal multiples and submultiples of
SI units, the system provides a number of decimal
prefixes. Table 2: SI prefixes

Prefix Symbol Value

giga G 109
mega M 106
kilo k 103
hecto h 102
deka da 10
deci d 10-1
centi c 10-2
milli m 10-3
micro μ 10-6
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Fundamental Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Length
 Length: a measure of distance between two points, one of
which may be the origin of a coordinate system. The line
does not have to be a straight line.
 The base SI unit is meter.
 Tools used to measure: ruler, measuring tape, vernier
caliper, micrometer, dial indicators, and non-contacting
electronics probes.

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Fundamental Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Plane Angle
 Angle: the inclination of one straight line to another.
 The SI base unit of angular measure is the radian.
 Radian: the angle subtended at the center of a circle by an arc of length
equal to the radius.
 There are 2π ( ≈ 6.283) radians in a circle.
 The use of degrees, minutes, and seconds is allowed for measurement
of plane angle.
 The circle is divided into 360 degrees(o), the degree into 60 minutes(‘),
and the minute into 60 2
seconds(˝).
1o  rad  0.01745rad
360
360 o
1rad   57.3o
2

 Plane angles are measured with a protractor.

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Fundamental Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Mass
 Mass: the measure of the quantity of matter in a body.
 The base SI unit of mass is the kilogram.
 1 tonne = 1000 kg.

Table 3: SI units of mass

Name Symbol Relationship to base unit
milligram mg 1mg =10-6 kg
gram g 1g =10-3 kg
kilogram kg SI base unit
tonne t 1t =103 kg
kilotonne kt 1kt =106 kg

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Fundamental Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Time
 Time: measure of sequence of events taking place in the
physical world.
 The SI base unit of time is second.
Table 4: SI units of time
Name Symbol Definition in terms of SI unit
second s SI base unit
minute min 1 min = 60 s
hour h 1 h = 3.6 x 103 s
day d 1t = 86.4 x 103 s

 Practical measurement of time, depending on the accuracy

required, is made with pendulum clocks, chronometers,
stopwatches, electric clocks and quartz clocks.
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Fundamental Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Temperature
 Temperature: a measure of the degree of hotness or
coldness of a physical body or substance with respect to a
fixed scale.
 Scales:
 Thermodynamics temperature scale
– Kelvin Scale.
 The position of the zero point is called
the absolute zero.
 Practical scale – Celsius Scale.
T ( K )  T ( oC )  273.15
T ( K )  T ( oC )

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Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Area
 Area is defined as a measure of the extent of a surface.
 The SI unit of area is the square meter (m2), defined as the
area enclosed by a square each side of which is one meter in
length.
 Due to the second-order relationship between the dimensions
of length and area, the multiplier between one preferred unit of
area and the next is 10002.
Table 5 SI units of area
Name Symbol Relationship to base unit
square millimeter mm2 1mm2 =10-6 m2
square meter m2 SI base unit
hectare ha 1 ha = 104 m2
square kilometer km2 1 km2 = 106 m2

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Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Area
 Area of Standard Shapes:

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Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Area
 Example:
How many parquet flooring blocks, each measuring 125 mm x
25 mm, are required to cover an area 10 m x 8 m?

Area to be covered = 10 m x 8 m
= 80 m2
Area of each block = 0.125 m x 0.025 m
= 0.003125 m2

80m 2
Number of blocks required = = 256002
0.003125m

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Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Volume
 Volume is defined as a measure of the amount of space
occupied by an object or matter..
 The SI unit of area is the cubic meter (m3), defined as the
volume of a cube, each side of which is one meter in length.
 Due to the third-order relationship between the dimensions of
length and volume, the multiplier between one preferred unit of
volume and the next is 10003.
 For liquids, the unit of volume is called liter.
 1 m3 =1000 L
 1 cm3 = 1 mL

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Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Volume

Table 6: SI units of volume

Name Symbol Alternative Symbol Relationship
name to base unit
cubic millimeter mm3 microlitre μL =10-9 m3
- - millileter mL =10-6 m3
- - liter L =10-3 m3
cubic meter m3 kiloliter kL SI base unit
- - megaliter ML = 103 m3
- - gigaliter GL = 106 m3
cubic kilometer km3 - - = 109 m3

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 Derived Dimensions and Units:
The Concept and Units of Volume
 Volume of Standard Shapes:

D = diameter = 2 r

D
3
 D3   D3 
4   4     
4r 3
 2  8   2  D 3
VSphere     
3 3 3 3 6
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Adding and Subtracting
Important Note:

Only quantities with the

same units can be added
or subtracted!

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Mixed Units
Some measurements involve more than a single
unit. When a measurement is expressed in mixed
units, we write the larger unit with the largest
possible whole number.

Example:

3 hr 5 min should NOT be written as 2 hr 65 min

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U.S. Customary System
 Set of standard units used in the United States established to
simplify trade and commerce.
 Set of standard units to describe all units of measure
 length, mass, capacity, time, energy, power, etc.

 A measurement includes a number and a unit:

3 feet
numbers 7 miles units
12 yards
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Length in U.S. Customary System
 U.S. Customary System units of length are:
 Inch, foot, yard, and mile.

Equivalences between Units of Length in the U.S. Customary System:

12 inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft)

3 ft = 1 yard (yd)
36 in = 1 yd
5280 ft = 1 mile (mi)

 We often need to convert from one unit of measure to

another.
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Length in U.S. Customary System
 To figure this out, we need to form Conversion Rates.

 Conversion rates???
 Relationshipsbetween units
 Used to change a measurement from one unit to another.

 For example, since 3 ft = 1 yd, the conversion rates are:

3 ft 1 yd
and
1 yd 3 ft
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Length in U.S. Customary System
 Converting between units of measure
 Steps
1. Construct the conversion rates.
2. Multiply the measurement by the appropriate conversion rate.
1. Note: Make sure you use the conversion rate which has the unit in the
numerator that you want in your answer
 Examples:
1. Convert 27 ft to yards
 Conversion rates are
 3 ft/1 yd and 1 yd/3 ft
 Which one do we choose?
 27 ft x 1 yd/3 ft = 9 yd

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Length in U.S. Customary System
 Examples:
1. Convert 5 yards to feet
 Conversion rates are 3 ft/1 yd and 1 yd/3 ft
 Which one do we choose?
 5 yd x 3 ft/1 yd = 15 ft
 More Examples:
1. Convert 40 in to feet.
 Conversion rates are 12 in./1 ft and 1 ft/12 in.
 40 in. x 1 ft/12 in. = 40 ft/12 in. = 3 1/3 ft
2. Convert 3 ¼ yd to feet
 Conversion rates are 3 ft/1 yd and 1 yd/3 ft
 3 ¼ yd = 13/4 yd = 13/4 yd x 3 ft/1 yd = 39/4 ft = 9 ¾ ft

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Length in U.S. Customary System
 Write length measurements in simplest form.
 We can say (see previous slide):
 40 in. = 3 1/3 ft
 If we want to convert 40 in to ___ft ___in.
3 4
 Divide 40 by 12 (since there is 12 inches in 1 ft.)
 This will tell us how many feet there are.
 Any remainder is the number of inches.
 Examples:
1. 17 in = ___ft ___in.
 1 ft 5 in
2. 31 ft = ___yd ___ft
 10 yd 1 ft

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Mass in U.S. Customary Units
 U.S. Customary System units of Mass are:
 Ounce, Pound, and ton

Equivalences between Units of Mass in the U.S. Customary System:

16 ounces (oz) = 1 pound (lb)

2000 lb = 1 ton

 We can use these equivalences to construct conversion rates.

 Example: What are oz conversion1 lb
16 the rates for ounces and pounds?
and
1 lb 16 oz
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Mass in U.S. Customary Units
 Example:
1. Convert 62 oz to pounds.
 62 oz x 1 lb/16 oz = 62/16 lb = 3 7/8 lb
2. Convert 3 ½ tons to pounds.
 Conversion rate: 2000 lb/1 ton
 3 ½ tons = 7/2 tons = 7/2 tons x 2000 lbs/1 ton = 7000 lbs
3. Convert 42 oz to pounds.
 Conversion rate: 1 lb/16 oz
 42 oz x 1 lb/16 oz = 42/16 lb = 2 5/8 lb

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Mass in U.S. Customary Units
 Write mass measurements in simplest form.
 We can say:
 4200 lb = 2 1/10 tons
 If 2
we want to convert 4200 lb to ___tons 200
_______lb
 Divide 4200 by 2000 (since there are 2000 lb in 1 ton)
 Tells us how many tons there are.
 Remainder is the number of pounds.

 Examples:
1. Convert: 4200 lb = ___tons ___lb
 2 tons 200 lb
2. Convert: 62 oz = ___lb ___oz
 3 lb 14 oz

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References
 Val Ivanoff, 2010, Engineering Mechanics: An
introduction to Statics, Dynamics and Strength of
materials, McGraw-Hill, 2010, pp. 27-46 (Chapter 3)

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