Engineering Science

 Topic : Introduction of SI Unit

 (a) Basic quantities and units

 (b) Derived units

 (c) Prefixes

 (d) Examples

Reference: “Science for Engineering, 3rd Ed”

By John Bird
 SI Unit
Systeme Internationale d’Units (SI Unit)
In engineering and science,
Syeteme Internationale d’Units
is used which is a international system unit.

© VTC 2012 p.2

 SI Unit
Systeme Internationale d’Units (SI Unit)
Generally, there are seven basic SI units, such as
 Length,
 Mass,
 Time,
 Electric current,
 Thermodynamic temperature,
 Luminous intensity and
 Amount of substance.

p.3
 SI Unit
SI Unit and symbols are shown as table below:
Quantity name Unit name Unit symbol
Length (米) metre m
Mass (千克) kilogram kg
Time (秒) second s
Electric current (安培) ampere A
Thermodynamic (開爾文) kelvin K
temperature
Luminous intensity (坎德拉) candela cd
Amount of substance (摩爾) mole mol
© VTC 2012 pp-PowerPoint.ppt p.4
Derived quantities and units
 All other quantities are described as derived
quantities, and are measured using derived units,
which are defined as products of powers of the base
units.

© VTC 2012 p.5

Derived quantities and units
Derived quantity Symbol Derived unit Symbol
area A square metre m2
volume V cubic metre m3
speed, velocity v metre per second m/s
acceleration a metre per second m/s2
squared
wavenumber reciprocal metre m−1
mass density kilogram kg/m3
per cubic metre
surface density kilogram per kg/m2
square metre
specific volume v cubic metre m3/kg
per kilogram
© VTC 2012 p.6
Derived quantities and units
Derived quantity Symbol Derived unit Symbol
current density j ampere per A/m2
square metre
magnetic field H ampere per metre A/m
strength
concentration c mole per mol/m3
cubic metre
mass kilogram kg/m3
concentration per cubic metre
luminance Lv candela per cd/m2
square metre
refractive index n one 1
relative μr one 1
permeability
p.7
Derived units with special
names in the SI
 Some derived units are given a special name, these
being simply a compact form for the expression of
combinations of base units that are used frequently.
Thus, for example, the joule, symbol J, is by definition
equal to = m2 kg s−2. There are 22 special names for
units approved for use in the SI at present.

p.8
Derived units with special
names in the SI
Derived Name Symbol Expression
quantity of derived for in terms
unit unit of other units
plane angle radian rad m/m = 1
solid angle steradian sr m2/m2 = 1
frequency hertz Hz s–1
force newton N m kg s−2
pressure, stress pascal Pa N/m2 = m−1 kg s−2
energy, work, joule J N m = m2 kg s−2
amount of heat
power, radiant flux watt W J/s = m2 kg s−3
electric charge, coulomb C sA
amount
of electricity
p.9
Derived units with special
names in the SI
Derived Name Symbol Expression
quantity of derived for in terms
unit unit of other units
electric potential volt V W/A = m2 kg s−3A−1
difference
capacitance farad F C/V = m−2 kg−1 s4 A2
electric ohm Ω V/A = m2 kg s−3 A−2
resistance
electric siemens S A/V = m−2 kg−1 s3 A2
conductance
magnetic flux weber Wb V s= m2 kg s−2 A−1
magnetic flux tesla T Wb/m2 = kg s−2 A−1
density

p.10
Derived units with special
names in the SI
Derived Name Symbol Expression
quantity of derived for in terms
unit unit of other units
inductance henry H Wb/A = m2 kg s−2 A−2
Celsius degree oC K
temperature Celsius
luminous flux lumen lm cd sr = cd
illuminance lux lx lm/m2 = m−2 cd
activity referred becquerel Bq s−1
to a radionuclide
absorbed dose, gray Gy J/kg = m2 s−2
specific energy
(imparted), kerma

p.11
Derived units with special
names in the SI
Derived Name Symbol Expression
quantity of derived for in terms
unit unit of other units
dose equivalent, sievert Sv J/kg = m2 s−2
ambient dose
equivalent
catalytic activity katal kat s−1 mol

p.12
 Prefixes
By using prefixes, SI Units can be made larger or
smaller which denote multiplication or division by
a particular amount.
Generally, there are eight most common
multiples.
Prefix with name and meaning is shown in the
table.

© VTC 2012 p.13

 Prefixes
Prefix
deca hecto kilo mega giga tera peta exa zetta yotta
name

Multip
Prefix
les da h k M G T P E Z Y
symbol

Factor 100 101 102 103 106 109 1012 1015 1018 1021 1024

Prefix
deci centi milli micro nano pico femto atto zepto yocto
name

Subm
ultiple Prefix
d c m μ n p f a z y
s symbol

Factor 100 10−1 10−2 10−3 10−6 10−9 10−12 10−15 10−18 10−21 10−24

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Correct expression of SI units
 2kg wrong

 2 kg correct

 1. One space is always left between the number and the

unit.

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Correct expression of SI units
 mass: m = 2 kg wrong

 mass: m = 2 kg correct

 2. Quantity symbols are printed in an italic (slanting)

type. Either capital or lower case letters may be used.

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Correct expression of SI units
 It is 2 m long. wrong

 It is 2 m long. correct

 3. Unit symbols are printed in a roman (upright) type.

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Correct expression of SI units
 0.001 s = 1 m s wrong

 0.001 s = 1 ms correct

 4. When the prefixes are used, the prefix name and the
unit name are combined to form a single word, and
similarly the prefix symbol and the unit symbol are
written without any space to form a single symbol. p.18
Correct expression of SI units
 1 kilogram × 2 second = 2 kgs
wrong

 1 kilogram × 2 second = 2 kg s or 2 kg.s

correct

 5. In forming products of units, a space should be left

between units (or alternatively a half high centred dot can
be used as a multiplication symbol).
p.19
Correct expression of SI units
 Pressure is 2 pa wrong

 Pressure is 2 Pa correct

 6. Symbols for units begin with a capital letter when they

are named after an individual (for example, ampere, A;
kelvin, K; hertz, Hz; coulomb, C). Otherwise they always
begin with a lower case letter (for example, metre, m;
second, s; mole, mol). The symbol for the litre is an
exception, it can be either a lower case or capital.
p.20
 Length
 Length is used to locate the position of a point in
space and thereby describe the size of a physical
system. Once a standard unit of the length is
defined, one can then use it to define distances and
geometric properties of a body as multiples of this
unit.

© VTC 2012 p.21

 Length
Length is a measure of distance between two
point. The standard unit of length is “metre, m”.
Centimetre (cm), millimetre (mm) and kilometre
(km) are also be common used.
1 cm = 10 mm
1 m = 100 cm = 1000mm
1 km = 1000m

© VTC 2012 p.22

 Area
Area is a measure of the size of a plane surface.
Area with 1 m length and 1 m wide = 1 square metre

1m2 = 1 m x 1 m
= 100 cm x 100 cm
= 1000 mm x 1000 mm

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 Volume
Volume is a measure of space.
Volume with 1 m length, 1 m wide and 1 m height
= 1 cubic metres
1m3 = 1 m x 1 m x 1 m
= 100 cm x 100 cm x 100 cm
= 1000 mm x 1000 mm x 1000 mm

© VTC 2012 p.24

 Mass
 Mass is a measure of a quantity of matter that is
used to compare the action of one body with that of
another. This property manifests itself as a
gravitational attraction between two bodies and
provides a measure of the resistance of matter to a
change in velocity.

© VTC 2012 p.25

 Mass
Mass is amount of matter in a body. It can be
measured in tonne (t), kilogram (kg) and gram (g).

1 kg = 1000 g
1 tonne (t) = 1000 kg

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 Time
 Time is conceived as a succession of events.
Although the principles of statics are time
independent, this quantity plays an important role in
the study of dynamics.

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 Time
Time can be measured in second (s), minute
(min), hour (h), day, week, month, year and etc.

1 day = 24 hour (h)

= 1,440 minute (min)
= 86,400 second (s)

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 Example 1
Example 1
State a length of 40 mm in metre

Solution
1 m = 1000 mm
Thus, 40 mm = 0.04 m

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 Example 2
Example 2
Express 400 mm2 in square metre

Solution
1 m2 = 1000 mm x 1000 mm
Thus, 400 mm2 = 0.0004 m2 or 4x10-4 m2

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 Example 3
Example 3
Calculate the area of a classroom with 10 m long
and 4 m wide. Give the answer in mm2 unit.
Solution
Area of room = 10 m x 4 m = 40 m2
= 1000 cm x 400 cm = 4x105 cm2
= 10000 mm x 4000 mm = 4x107 mm2

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 Example 4
Example 4
Calculate the volume of a classroom with 10 m
long, 4 m wide and 3 m height. Give the answer
in mm3 unit.
Solution
Volume of classroom
= 10 m x 4 m x 3 m = 120 m3
= 1000 cm x 400 cm x 300 cm = 1.2 x 108 cm3
= 10000 mm x 4000 mm x 3000 mm = 1.2x1011 mm3
© VTC 2012 p.32