Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Lecture-2

Systems of Units and Standards

2.1 Introduction

The unit is the standard measure of each kind of physical quantities. In order
to perform the measurement, the physical quantity must be defined both in kind
and magnitude. The number of times that the unit occurs in any given amount of
the same quantity is called ' the number of measure'.

A standard of measurement is the physical representation of the unit. The

unit may be realized by reference to an arbitrary material standard or to natural
phenomena including physical and atomic constants.

2.2 System of Units

In science and engineering, two kinds of units are used:

1. The Fundamental Units

An agreed set of standard units or (Systeme International d'Units), (SI Units)

has been defined and strong efforts were being made to encourage the adoption
of this system through the word.

The SI units and their symbols are given in table(2.1) shown below:

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 Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Table (2.1) The Fundamental SI Units

Class No. Quantity Unit Symbol
1 Length meter M
Primary Fundamental
2 Mass Kilogram Kg
Units
3 Time second S
4 Electric current Ampere A
Auxiliary Fundamental 5 Temperature Kelvin K
Units 6 Luminous intensity candela Cd
7 Matter mole Mol
Supplementary 8 Plane angle radian Rad
Fundamental Units 9 Solid angle steradian Sr

2. The Derived Units

The derived units are those which can be expressed in terms of the
fundamental units. Every derived unit is originated from some physical law
defining that unit. The derived unit may take special name such as the names of
the famous scientists.

Some of the derived units are listed in table (2.2) shown below:
Table (2.2) The Derived SI Units
No. Quantity Unit Symbol
1 Area Square meter m2
2 Volume Cubic meter m3
3 Velocity Meter per second m/s
4 Acceleration Meter per square second m/s2
5 Angular velocity Radian per second rad/s
6 Angular acceleration Radian per square second rad/s2
7 Density Kilogram per cubic meter Kg/m3
8 Mass flow rate Kilogram per second Kg/s
9 Volume flow rate Cubic meter per second m3/s
10 Force Newton N
11 Pressure Newton per square meter N/m2
12 Torque Newton-meter N.m
13 Moment of inertia Kilogram-square meter Kg.m2
14 Momentum Kilogram- meter/second Kg.m/s

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 Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Table (2.2) The Derived SI Units (Continuation)

No. Quantity Unit Symbol
15 Work, energy Joule J
16 Power Watt W
17 Voltage Volt V
18 Electric charge Coulomb C
19 Electric conductance Siemens S
20 Electric resistance Ohm Ω
21 Electric inductance Henry H
22 Electric capacitance Farad F
23 Resistivity Ohm-meter Ω.m
24 Permeability Henry per meter H/m
25 Permittivity Farad per meter F/m
26 Electric field strength Volt per meter V/m
27 Magnetic field strength Ampere per meter A/m
28 Magnetic flux Weber Wb
29 Magnetic flux density Tesla T
30 Current density Ampere per square meter A/m2
31 Frequency Hertz Hz
32 Luminous flux Lumen Lm
33 Luminance candela per square meter cd/m2
34 Illumination Lux lx (lm/m2)
35 Molarity mole per kilogram mol/Kg
36 Molar volume Cubic meter per mole m3/mol
37 Molar energy Joule per mole J/mol
38 Kinematic viscosity Square meter per second m2/s
39 Dynamic viscosity Newton-second per square meter N.s/m2
40 Thermal conductivity Watt per meter-Kelvin W/m.K

Some of units are inconveniently large or small in practical circumstances.

Hence, a standard multiplier and sub-
used.

Table (2.3) shows these multiplier and sub-multipliers with their symbols
and prefix.

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 Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Table (2.3) Multipliers and Sub-multipliers of SI Units

No. Prefix Power of 10 Symbol
1 Exa 1018 E
2 Peta 1015 P
3 Tera 1012 T
4 Giga 109 G
5 Mega 106 M
6 Kilo 103 k
7 Hecta 102 h
8 Deca 10 da
9 Deci 10-1 d
10 Centi 10-2 c
11 Milli 10-3 m
12 Micro 10-6 µ
13 Nano 10-9 n
14 Peco 10-12 p
15 Femto 10-15 f
16 Atto 10-18 a

2.3 English System of Units

English system of units uses the foot (ft), the pound-mass (lb) and the
second (s) as the three fundamental units of length, mass and time respectively.
Table (2.4) lists some of common conversion factors from English into SI units:
Table (2.4) English units into SI Units Conversions
No. Quantity English Unit Symbol SI unit
Foot Ft 0.3048 m
Yard Yd 0.9144 m
1 Length
Inch In 25.4 mm
Mile Mi 1.609 Km
Pound Lb 0.4539237 Kg
(international avoirdupois)
2 Mass Oz 28.35 g
Ounce
(international Tory) Ounce Oz 31.1034768 g
3 Force Poundal Pdl 0.138255 N
4 Power Horsepower Hp 745.7 W
5 Work, Energy Foot-poundal ft.pdl 0.0421401 J
o C= 5/9(F-32)
6 Temperature Fahrenheit F
K= 5/9(F+459.67)

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Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

2.4 Measurement Standards

In general, there are four levels of standards of measurement:

1. International Standards

The international standards are defined by international agreements. They

represent certain units of measurement to the closest possible accuracy that
production and measurement technology allow. International standards are
periodically evaluated and checked by absolute measurement in terms of the
fundamental units. These standards are maintained at the international Bureau of
Weights and Measures at sevres, near Paris.

2. Primary Standards

The primary standards are preserved by national standard laboratories in

different parts of the world. For example, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
in Washington and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Great Britain. The
primary standard representing the fundamental units and some of the derived
units. One of the main function of the primary standards is the verification and
calibration of secondary standards.

3. Secondary Standards

The secondary standards are maintained as reference standards in industrial

measurement laboratories. These standards are periodically sent to national
standards laboratories for calibration with the primary standards.

4. Working Standards

The working standards are the principal tools of a measurement

laboratories. Working standards are used to check and calibrate the laboratory
instruments and the manufacturing components. The working standards are
preserved in the quality control department of the measurement laboratory.

The standard units for the measurement have been defined and
progressively improved over the years. The latest standards for defining the units

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 Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

used for measuring a range of physical quantities or variable are given in table
(2.5) shown below:

Table (2.5) Definition of Standard Units

No. Physical Quantity Standard units Definition
The length of path travelled by light in an interval
1 Length Meter
of 1/299792458.
The mass of platinum-iridium cylinder kept in the
2 Mass Kilogram
BWM at Sevres, Paris.
9.192631770 × 109 cycles of radiation from
3 Time Second
vaporized Ceasium-133.
Is the current flowing through two infinity long
parallel conductors of negligible cross-section
4 Current Ampere placed one meter apart in a vacuum and producing
a force of 2×10-7 newton per meter length of the
conductor.
The temperature difference between absolute zero
5 Temperature Kelvin and the triple point of water is defined as 273.16
kelvin.
Is the luminous intensity in a given direction from a
source emitting monochromatic radiation at a
6 Luminous intensity Candela
frequency of 540 terahertz and with a radiant
.
7 Matter Mole The number of atoms in a 12 g mass of Carbon-12.

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Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Examples – L2

Ex2.1 Define the following terms: (1) Unit (2) Standard

Sol.
(1) Unit: is the standard measure of each kind of the physical quantities.
(2) Standard: is the physical representation of the unit.

Ex2.2 Give the SI units for the following quantities:

(1) Length (2) Volume (3) Resistivity (4) Permeability (5)

Permittivity (6) Power (7) Current density (8) Momentum (9)
Magnetic flux density (10) Acceleration.
Sol.

No. Quantity Unit

1 Length Meter

2 Volume Cubic meter

3 Resistivity Ohm-meter

4 Permeability Henry per meter

5 Permittivity Farad per meter

6 Power Watt

7 Current density Ampere per square meter

8 Momentum Kilogram- meter/second

9 Magnetic flux density Tesla

10 Acceleration Meter per square second

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Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Ex2.3 Describe the following measurements as follows:

1. 8540.33 oF in oK.
Sol.
From tables we get:
K = 5/9 (F + 459.67)
Therefore,
K = 5/9 (8540.33 + 459.67)
Or
K = 5000 oK.

2. 500 oz in Kg.
Sol.
From tables we get:
Oz = 28.35 g
But,
=
Therefore,
= .
or
= .
Thus,
= .

3. 0.0001 Km/s in ft/hr.

Sol.
From tables we get:
ft = 0.3048 m
But,
=
Therefore,
= .
or
= .
or
=
.
Also,

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Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

4. 62.5 lb/ft3 in g/cm3

Sol.
From tables we get:
= .
But,
=
Therefore,
=
Also,
= .
But,
=
Therefore,
= .
Or,
=( . )
Or,
=( . )
Or,
= .
Therefore,
. = . .
= /

Ex2.4 Tabulate and classify the SI units.

Sol.

Class No. Quantity Unit Symbol

Primary 1 Length meter M
Fundamental 2 Mass Kilogram Kg
Units 3 Time second S
4 Electric current Ampere A
Auxiliary
5 Temperature Kelvin K
Fundamental
6 Luminous intensity candela Cd
Units
7 Matter mole Mol
Supplementary 8 Plane angle radian Rad
Fundamental
9 Solid angle steradian Sr
Units

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Instrumentations and Measurements Systems of Units and Standards

Ex2.5 List the levels of the measurements standards.

Sol.

2. Primary standards.

3. Secondary standards.

4. Working standards.

(10- Lecture-2) Assist. Prof. Dr. Haider K.

Latif