Member Login Username: Password:

Design Reference Who is Who Material Price Publication & Articles Software STR. & GEO Projects Info News

& Events Register forget password?

Login

Societies & Links Techno Jobs Post & Find Contact us Office Map

Civil Engineering Dictionary Technical meaning of Civil Eng.

Coming

Coming

Civil Engineering Formulas

Updated! Add more formulas. Contains all the essential formulas and equations civil engineers need for a wide variety of design applications.

Civil Engineering Formulas

Chapter 1:

Conversion Factors for Civil Engineering Practice Conversion Factors

Civil engineers throughout the world accept both the United States Customary System (USCS) and the System International (SI) units of measure for both applied and theoretical calculations. However, the SI units are much more widely used than those of the USCS. Hence, both the USCS and the SI units are presented for essentially every formula in this book. Thus, the user of the book can apply the formulas with confidence anywhere in the world. To permit even wider use of this text, this chapter contains the conversion factors needed to switch from one system to the other. For engineers unfamiliar with either system of units, we suggests the following steps for becoming acquainted with the unknown system: 1. 2. Prepare a list of measurementscommonly used in yourdaily work. Insert, opposite each known unit,the unit from the othersystem. Table 1.1 shows such a list of USCS units withcorresponding SI units and symbols prepared by a civilengineer who normally uses the USCS. The SI unitsshown in Table 1.1 were obtained from Table 1.3 by theengineer. Find, from a table of conversion factors,such as Table 1.3, the value used to convert from USCS to SI units. Inserteach appropriate value in Table 1.2 from Table 1.3. Apply the conversion valueswherever necessary for theformulas in this book. Recognize -here and now- that the most difficultaspect of becoming familiar with a new system of meas-urement is becoming comfortable with the names andmagnitudes of the units. Numerical conversion is simple, once you have set up your own conversion table.

3. 4. 5.

TABLE 1.1 Commonly Used USCS and SI Units * USCS unit square foot cubic foot pound per square inch pound force foot pound torque kip foot gallon per minute kip per square inch SI unit square meter cubic meter kilopascal newton newton meter kilonewton meter liter per second megapascal SI symbol m2 m2 kPa Nu N-m kN-m L/s MPa Conversion factor ** 0.0929 0.2831 6.894 4.448 1.356 1.355 0.06309 6.89

* This table is abbreviated. For a typical engineering practice,an actual tablewould be many times this length. ** multiply USCS unit by this factor to obtain SI unit

Be careful,when using formulas containing a numerical constant,to convert the constant to that for the system you are using. You can, however, use the formula for the USCS units (when the formula is given in those units) and then convert the final result to the SI equivalent using Table 1.3. For the few formulas given in SI units,the reverse procedure should be used. TABLE 1.2 Typical Conversion Table * To convert from square foot foot per second squared cubic foot pound per square inch gallon per minute pound per square inch pound force kip per square foot acre foot per day acre cubic foot percubic meter persecond To square meter meter per second squared cubic meter kilogram per cubic meter liter per second kilopascal newton pascal cubic meter per second square meter cubic meter per second Multiply by ** 9.290304 E-02 3.048 E-01 2.767990 E+04 6.309 E-02 6.894757 4.448222 4.788026 E+04 1.427641 E-02 MPa 4.046873 E+03 2.831685 E-02

* This table contains only selected values. See the U.S. Department of the Interior Metric Manual, or National Bureau of Standards,The International System of Units (SI), both available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), for far more comprehensive listings of conversion factors. ** The E indicates an exponent, as in scientific notation, followed by a positive or negative number, representing the power of 10 by which the given conversion factor is to be multiplied before use. Thus, for the square foot conversion factor, 9.2903041/1000.09290304, the factor to be used to convert square feet to square meters. For a positive exponent, as in converting acres to square meters, multiply by 4.04687310004046.8. Where a conversion factor cannot be found, simply use the dimensional substitution. Thus, to convert pounds per cubic inch to kilograms per cubic meter, find 1 lb = 0.4535924 kg and 1 in3= 0.00001638706 m3. Then, 1 lb/in3 = 0.4535924 kg/0.00001638706 m3 = 27,680.01, or 2.768 E+4.

TABLE 1.3 Factors for Conversion to SI Units of Measurement * To convert from acre foot, acre ft acre angstrom atmosphere, atm (standard) atmosphere, atm (technical =1 kgf/cm2) bar To cubic meter, m
3 2

Multiply by 1.233489 E+03 4.046873 E+03 1.000000 E-10 1.013250 E+05 9.806650 E+04 1.000000 E+05

square meter, m meter, m pascal, Pa pascal, Pa pascal, Pa

barrel (for petroleum 42 gal) board foot, board ft British thermal unit, Btu, (mean) British thermal unit, Btu (International Table)*in/(h)(ft2) (oF) (k ,thermalconductivity) British thermal unit, Btu (International Table)/h British thermal unit, Btu (International Table)/(h)(ft2) (oF) (C, thermal conductance) British thermal unit, Btu (International Table)/lb British thermal unit, Btu (International Table)/(lb) (oF) (c, heat capacity) British thermal unit, cubic foot, Btu (International Table)/ft3 bushel (U.S.) calorie (mean) candela per square inch, cd/in2 centimeter, cm, of mercury (0oC) centimeter, cm, of water (4oC) chain circular mil day day (sidereal) degree (angle) degree Celsius degree Fahrenheit degree Fahrenheit

cubic meter, m3 cubic meter, m3 joule, J

1.589873 E-01 2.359737 E-03 1.05587 E+03

watt per meter kelvin, W/(m*K)

1.442279 E-01

watt, W

2.930711 E-01

watt per square meter kelvin, W/(m2*K)

5.678263 E+00

joule per kilogram, J/kg

2.326000 E+03

joule per kilogram kelvin, J/kg*K

4.186800 E+03

joule per cubic meter, J/m3 cubic meter, m3 joule, J candela per square meter, cd/m2 pascal, Pa pascal, Pa meter, m square meter, m2 second, s second, s radian, rad kelvin, K degree Celsius, C kelvin, K
o

3.725895 E+04 3.523907 E-02 4.19002 E+00 1.550003 E+03 1.33322 E+03 9.80638 E+01 2.011684 E+01 5.067075 E-10 8.640000 E+04 8.616409 E+04 1.745329 E-02 TK = tC+273.15 tC = (tF - 32)/1.8 TK = (tF + 459.67)/1.8

degree Rankine ( F)(h)(ft2)/Btu (International Table) (R, thermal resistance) (oF)(h)(ft2)/(Btu (International Table)*in) (thermal resistivity) dyne, dyn fathom foot, ft foot, ft (U.S. survey) foot, ft, of water (39.2oF) (pressure) square foot, ft2 square foot per hour, ft /h (thermal diffusivity) square foot per second, ft2/s cubic foot, ft3 (volume or section modulus) cubic foot per minute, ft3/min cubic foot per second, ft3/s foot to the fourth power, ft4 (area moment of inertia) foot per minute, ft/min foot per second, ft/s foot per second squared, ft/s2 footcandle, fc footlambert, fL foot pound force, ft*lbf foot pound force per minute, ft*lbf/min foot pound force per second, ft*lbf/s foot poundal, ft poundal
2 o

kelvin, K kelvin square meter per watt, K*m2/W kelvin meter per watt, K*m/W newton, N meter, m meter, m meter, m pascal, Pa square meter, m2 square meter per second, m2/s square meter per second, m2/s cubic meter, m3 cubic meter per second, m3/s cubic meter per second, m3/s meter to the fourth power, m4 meter per second, m/s meter per second, m/s meter per second squared, m/s2 lux, lx candela per square meter, cd/m2 joule, J watt, W watt, W joule, J

TK = TR /1.8 1.761102 E-01

6.933471 E+00 1.000000 E-05 1.828804 E+00 3.048000 E-01 3.048006 E-01 2.98898 E+03 9.290304 E-02 2.580640 E-05 9.290304 E-02 2.831685 E-02 4.719474 E-04 2.831685 E-02 8.630975 E-03 5.080000 E-03 3.048000 E-01 3.048000 E-01 1.076391 E+01 3.426259 E+00 1.355818 E+00 2.259697 E-02 1.355818 E+00 4.214011 E-02

free fall, standard g gallon, gal (Canadian liquid) gallon, gal (U.K. liquid) gallon, gal (U.S. dry) gallon, gal (U.S. liquid) gallon, gal (U.S. liquid) per day gallon, gal (U.S. liquid) per minute grad grad grain, gr gram, g hectare, ha horsepower, hp (550 ft*lbf/s) horsepower, hp (boiler) horsepower, hp (electric) horsepower, hp (water) horsepower, hp (U.K.) hour, h hour, h (sidereal) inch, in inch of mercury, in Hg (32oF) (pressure) inch of mercury, in Hg (60oF) (pressure) inch of water, in H2O (60oF) (pressure) square inch, in2 cubic inch, in3 (volume or section modulus) inch to the fourth power, in4 (area moment of inertia) inch per second, in/s

meter per second squared, m/s2 cubic meter, m3 cubic meter, m cubic meter, m cubic meter, m
3 3 3

9.806650 E+00 4.546090 E-03 4.546092 E-03 4.404884 E-03 3.785412 E-03 4.381264 E-08 6.309020 E-05 9.000000 E-01 1.570796 E-02 6.479891 E-05 1.000000 E-03 1.000000 E+04 7.456999 E+02 9.80950 E+03 7.460000 E+02 7.46043 E+02 7.4570 E+02 3.600000 E+03 3.590170 E+03 2.540000 E-02 3.38638 E+03 3.37685 E+03 2.4884 E+02 6.451600 E-04 1.638706 E-05 4.162314 E-07 2.540000 E-02

cubic meter per second, m3/s cubic meter per second, m3/s degree (angular) radian, rad kilogram, kg kilogram, kg square meter, m2 watt, W watt, W watt, W watt, W watt, W second, s second, s meter, m pascal, Pa pascal, Pa pascal, Pa square meter, m2 cubic meter, m3 meter to the fourth power, m4 meter per second, m/s

kelvin, K kilogram force, kgf kilogram force meter, kg*m kilogram force second squared per meter, kgf*s2/m (mass) kilogram force per square centimeter, kgf/cm2 kilogram force per square meter, kgf/m2 kilogram force per square millimeter, kgf/mm2 kilometer per hour, km/h kilowatt hour, kWh kip (1000 lbf) kipper square inch, kip/in2ksi knot, kn (international) lambert, L liter maxwell mho microinch, in micron, m mil, mi mile, mi (international) mile, mi (U.S. statute) mile, mi (international nautical) mile, mi (U.S. nautical) square mile, mi2(international) square mile, mi2 (U.S. statute) mile per hour, mi/h (international)

degree Celsius, oC newton, N newton meter, N*m kilogram, kg

tc = TK - 273.15 9.806650 E+00 9.806650 E+00 9.806650 E+00

pascal, Pa pascal, Pa pascal, Pa meter per second, m/s joule, J newton, N pascal, Pa meter per second, m/s candela per square meter, cd/m cubic meter, m3 weber, Wb siemens, S meter, m meter, m meter, m meter, m meter, m meter, m meter, m square meter, m2 square meter, m2 meter per second, m/s

9.806650 E+04 9.806650 E+00 9.806650 E+06 2.777778 E-01 3.600000 E+06 4.448222 E+03 6.894757 E+06 5.144444 E-01 3.183099 E+03 1.000000 E-03 1.000000 E-08 1.000000 E+00 2.540000 E-08 1.000000 E-06 2.540000 E-05 1.609344 E+03 1.609347 E+03 1.852000 E+03 1.852000 E+03 2.589988 E+06 2.589998 E+06 4.470400 E-01

mile per hour, mi/h (international) millibar, mbar millimeter of mercury, mmHg (0oC) minute (angle) minute, min minute (sidereal) ounce, oz (avoirdupois) ounce, oz (troy or apothecary) ounce, oz (U.K. fluid) ounce, oz (U.S. fluid) ounce force, ozf ounce force*inch, ozf*in ounce per square foot, oz (avoirdupois)/ft2 ounce per square yard, oz (avoirdupois)/yd2 perm (0oC) perm (23oC) perm inch, perm*in (0oC) perm inch, perm*in (23oC) pint, pt (U.S. dry) pint, pt (U.S. liquid) poise, p (absolute viscosity) pound, lb (avoirdupois) pound, lb (troy or apothecary) pound square inch, lb*in2(moment of inertia) pound per foot*second, lb/ft*s

kilometer per hour, km/h pascal, Pa pascal, Pa radian, rad second, s second, s kilogram, kg kilogram, kg cubic meter, m3 cubic meter, m newton, N newton meter, N*m kilogram per square meter, kg/m2 kilogram per square meter, kg/m2 kilogram per pascal second meter, kg/(Pa*s*m) kilogram per pascal second meter, kg/(Pa*s*m) kilogram per pascal second meter, kg/(Pa*s*m) kilogram per pascal second meter, kg/(Pa*s*m) cubic meter, m3 cubic meter, m
3 3

1.609344 E+00 1.000000 E+02 1.33322 E+02 2.908882 E-04 6.000000 E+01 5.983617 E+01 2.834952 E-02 3.110348 E-02 2.841307 E-05 2.957353 E-05 2.780139 E-01 7.061552 E-03 3.051517 E-01 3.390575 E-02 5.72135 E-11 5.74525 E-11 1.45322 E-12 1.45929 E-12 5.506105 E-04 4.731765 E-04 1.000000 E-01 4.535924 E-01 3.732417 E-01 2.926397 E-04 1.488164 E+00

pascal second, Pa*s kilogram, kg kilogram, kg kilogram square meter, kg*m2 pascal second, Pa*s

pound per square foot, lb/ft2 pound per cubic foot, lb/ft3 pound per gallon, lb/gal (U.K. liquid) pound per gallon, lb/gal (U.S. liquid) pound per hour, lb/h pound per cubic inch, lb/in3 pound per minute, lb/min pound per second, lb/s pound per cubic yard, lb/yd3 poundal pound*force, lbf pound force foot, lbf*ft pound force per foot, lbf/ft pound force per square foot, lbf/ft2 pound force per inch, lbf/in pound force per square inch, lbf/in2 (psi) quart, qt (U.S. dry) quart, qt (U.S. liquid) rod second (angle) second (sidereal) square (100 ft ) ton (assay) ton (long, 2240 lb) ton (metric) ton (refrigeration) ton (register) ton (short, 2000 lb)
2

kilogram per square meter, kg/m2 kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 kilogram per second, kg/s kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 kilogram per second, kg/s kilogram per second, kg/s kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 newton, N newton, N newton meter, N*m newton per meter, N/m pascal, Pa newton per meter, N/m pascal, Pa cubic meter, m3 cubic meter, m meter, m radian, rad second, s square meter, m kilogram, kg kilogram, kg kilogram, kg watt, W cubic meter, m kilogram, kg
3 2 3

4.882428 E+00 1.601846 E-01 9.977633 E+01 1.198264 E+02 1.259979 E-04 2.767990 E+04 7.559873 E-03 4.535924 E-01 5.932764 E-01 1.382550 E-01 4.448222 E+00 1.355818 E+00 1.459390 E+01 4.788026 E+01 1.751268 E+02 6.894757 E+03 1.101221 E-03 9.463529 E-04 5.029210 E+00 4.848137 E-06 9.972696 E-01 9.290304 E+00 2.916667 E-02 1.016047 E+03 1.000000 E+03 3.516800 E+03 2.831685 E+00 9.071847 E+02

ton (long per cubic yard, ton)/yd3 ton (short per cubic yard, ton)/yd3 ton force (2000 lbf) tonne, t watt hour, Wh yard, yd square yard, yd2 cubic yard, yd
3

kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 kilogram per cubic meter, kg/m3 newton, N kilogram, kg joule, J meter, m square meter, m2 cubic meter, m second, s second, s
3

1.328939 E+03 1.186553 E+03 8.896444 E+03 1.000000 E+03 3.600000 E+03 9.144000 E-01 8.361274 E-01 7.645549 E-01 3.153600 E+07 3.155815 E+07

year (365 days) year (sidereal)

Last Update: 22 May 2006

Quick jump to:

Conversion Factors

Last Update: 16 February 2007

Back
2005 :: CivilPark.com :: CivilPark International :: All rights reserved