Units

&
Dimensions
Unit
The standard used for the measurement of a
physical quantity is called a unit.

For Example:
Meter for length/ distance
Gram for mass
Second for time
Kelvin for temperature
Ampere for current
Before SI Units
Before standard systems of measurement were invented,
many approximate units were used.

Distance:
A long distance was often measured by the number of days it
would take to ride a horse over the distance.

Height:
A horse’s height was measured in hands.

Liquid:
Liquid was measured by the bucket or barrel.
CGS System
• The system was introduced in France.

• It is also known as Gaussian system of units.

• In this system the fundamental unit of:

• Distance/ Length is centimeter.

• Mass is gram.
• Time is second.

Centimeter, gram, second (CGS)

CGS System
Electrostatic system Electromagnetic
of unit (esu) system of unit (emu)

The permittivity of free space The permittivity of free space

(ε0)is defined as 1. (μ0)is defined as 1.

The unit of electrical charge The unit magnetic pole is

is defined as the charge that defined as the pole that
exerts unit force on a similar exerts unit force on a similar
charge located at 1cm pole located at 1cm distance.
distance.
MKS System
• The system was also introduced in France.

• It is also known as French system of units.

• In this system the fundamental unit of:

• Distance/ Length is meter.

• Mass is kilogram.
• Time is second.

meter, kilogram, second (MKS)

FPS System
• The system was introduced in Britain.

• It is also known as British system of units.

• In this system the fundamental unit of:

• Distance/ Length is foot.

• Mass is pound.
• Time is second.

foot, pound, second (FPS)

System International (SI)
• The system was introduced in 1971 during
General Conference on weight and measures held
in France.

• This system is called systeme international

(French name) abbreviated as SI .

• There are seven fundamental SI units.

Fundamental SI Units
Scientific Notation
• Very large or very small numbers are
conveniently written as a number multiplied by
10 raised to the power.

• Numbers presented in this form are said to use

scientific notation.
Metrix Prefixes
Metrix Prefixes
• The prefixes are employed to simplify the
representation of very large and very small
quantities
Example:
1000 can be expressed as 1 kilo-Ohm, or 1 kΩ
Here
kilo is the prefix that represents 1000,
and k is the symbol for kilo.
Similarly,
1xA can be written as 1 milli-ampere, or 1
mA
Engineering Notation
• Most of the metric prefixes involve multiples of or
• Quantities that use or are said to be written in
engineering notation.
Example:
A quantity such as 1xΩ is more
conveniently expressed as 10x Ω, or 10 k Ω
Also,
47xA is best written as 4.7x A,
or 4.7 mA
Example 1-1:
Write the following quantities using
(a) scientific notation, (b) engineering notation,
(c) metric prefixes:
12 000 , 0.000 3 V, 0.000 01 A.
SI Mechanical Units
Unit of Force:
The SI unit of force is the newton (N), defined as
that force which will give a mass of 1 kilogram an
acceleration of one meter per second per second.
Force = mass x acceleration
F = ma
From the equation, the force in newton when the
mass is in kilograms and the acceleration is in m/
If the body is to be accelerated vertically from the earth’s surface, the
acceleration due to gravity (g) must be overcome before any vertical
motion is possible.
In SI units: g = 9.81 m/
Thus, a mass of 1 kg has a gravitational force of 9.81 N.
SI Mechanical Units…
Work:
The work done in moving a body is the product of the
force and the distance through which the body is
moved in the direction of the force.
Work = force x distance
W = Fd
The SI unit of work is the joule (J), defined as the
amount of work done when a force of one newton
acts through a distance of one meter.
Joule may also be termed as newton-meter.
SI Mechanical Units…
Power:
Power is the time rate of doing work.
If a certain amount of work W is to be done in a time t,
the power required is

The SI unit of power is the watt (W), defined as the

power developed when one joule of work is done in one
second.
SI Mechanical Units…
Energy:
Energy is defined as the capacity for doing work.
• Energy is measured in the same units as work.
When 1W of power is used for one hour = energy consumed is one watt-hour (1 Wh).
When 1kW of power is used for one hour = energy consumed is one kilowatt-hour (1 kWh).
Power used for 1 minute Power = work / time

Energy consumed = 1kW x 60s As, P=W/t

= 60kWs W= P x t
= 60kJ J=Ws
Power used for 1 hour

Energy consumed = 1kW x 60s x 60min

= 3600 kJ
= 3600 MJ
The megajoule (MJ) is the SI unit of energy consumption.
Example 1-2:
Calculate the power required to raise a 100 kg load
100 m vertically in 30 s.
Solution:
Power=work/time
work = force x distance
force = mass x acceleration
F=mxa
As the load is raising so acceleration = gravity = 9.8
F=m x g
=100 kg x 9.8
981 N
W=F x d
981 N x 100 m
= 98 100J
P = W/t
98 100J / 30 s
3.27 kW
SI Electrical Units
Unit of current & charge:
Electric current (I) is a flow of charge carriers. Therefore, current could
be defined in terms of the quantity of electricity (Q) that passes a given
point in a conductor during a time of 1 s.
The coulomb (C) is the unit of electrical charge or quantity of electricity.

• Measuring charge is difficult as compared to current.

• Now unit of current is the fundamental electrical unit in SI system.

The ampere (A) is the unit of electric current

The ampere (also termed an absolute ampere) is defined as that constant current
which, when flowing in each of two infinitely long parallel conductors 1 meter
apart, exerts a force of 2 x newton per meter of length on each conductor.
SI Electrical Units…
Coulomb:
The coulomb is defined as that charge which passes a given point in a
conductor each second, when a current of 1 ampere flows.

Amperes = coulomb / second

It has been established experimentally that 1 coulomb is equal to the total

charge carried by 6.24x electrons. Therefore, the charge carried by one
electron is
Q = 1/(6.24x)
= 1.602x C
SI Electrical Units…
Emf, Potential Difference and Voltage:
The volt (V) is the unit of electromotive force (emf) and potential
difference.

The volt (V) is defined as the potential difference between two points on a
conductor carrying a constant current of one ampere when the power
dissipated between these points is one watt.

• One joule of work is done when 6.24xelectrons are moved through a potential difference
of 1 V.

• One electron carries a charge of 1/(6.24x) coulomb. If only one electron is moved
through 1 V, the energy involved is an electron volt (eV).

1 eV = 1/(6.24x) J
SI Electrical Units…
Resistance and Conductance:
The ohm is the unit of resistance, and the symbol used for ohms is Ω; the
Greek capital letter omega.

The ohm is defined as that resistance which permits a current flow of one
ampere when a potential difference of one volt is applied to the resistance.

The term conductance (G) is applied to the reciprocal of resistance.

The siemens (S) is the unit of conductance.

The unit of conductance was previously the mho (ohm spelled backwards).
SI Electrical Units…
Magnetic Flux and Flux Density:
The weber (Wb) is the SI unit of magnetic flux.

The weber is defined as the magnetic flux which, linking a single-turn

coil, produces a 1 V emf when the flux is reduced to zero at a constant
rate in 1 s.

The tesla (T) is the SI unit of magnetic flux density.

The tesla is the flux density in a magnetic field when 1 weber of flux
occurs in a plane of 1 square meter;
that is,
the tesla can be described as 1 .
SI Electrical Units…
Inductance:
The SI unit of inductance is the henry (H).

The inductance of a circuit is 1 henry, when a 1 V emf is induced by the

current changing at the rate of 1 A/s.

Capacitance:
The farad (F) is the SI unit of capacitance.

The farad is the capacitance of a capacitor that contains a charge of 1

coulomb when the potential difference between its terminals is 1 volt.
Example 1-3:
A bar magnet with a 1 inch square cross-section has 500
maxwells (see Appendix 1) total magnetic flux. Determine
the flux density in teslas.

Solution:
From Appendix 1,
Total flux, Φ = (500 maxwell) x Wb
= 5 μWb

Area, A = (1 in 1 in) (2.54x10-2)2 m2

= 2.542x10-4 m2

Flux density, B = Φ /A
= 5 μWb / 2.542x10-4 m2
= 7.75 mT
Temperature units
Temperature Scales:
There are two SI units of temperature scale:

• Celsius scale has 100 equal divisions (or degrees) between the
freezing temperature and the boiling temperature of water. At normal
atmospheric pressure, water freezes at 0°C (zero degrees Celsius) and
boils at 100°C.

• Kelvin scale also known as the absolute scale, commences at absolute

zero of temperature, which corresponds to –273.15°C.

Therefore, 0°C is equal to 273.15 K,

And 100°C is the same temperature as 373.15 K.
With the (non-SI) Fahrenheit scale, 32°F is the freezing temperature of water and
212°F is the boiling temperature.
Example 1-4:
The normal human body temperature is given as 98.6°F.
Determine the equivalent Celsius and Kelvin scale
temperatures.
Solution:
From Appendix 1,

Celsius temperature = (°F - 32 ) / 1.8

= (98.7° 32°) / 1.8
= 37°C

Kelvin temperature = [(°F - 32 ) / 1.8] + 273.14

= 310.15 K
DIMENSION
Dimension
A physical Property of every quantity that
distinguishes it from all other quantities is called
dimension.

Example:

Length, mass and time etc.

Dimension…
Example 1-5:
Determine the dimensions of voltage and resistance.

Solution:
Dimensional Analysis
• Dimensional analysis is a tool to understand
the properties of physical quantities
independent of the units used to measure
them.