Introduction to

Chemical
Engineering
Calculations
 Units and Dimensions

Dimension
– is a property that can be:
 measured
⚫ length, time, mass or temperature,
 calculated by multiplying or dividing other
dimensions
⚫ length/time (velocity), length 3 (volume), or
mass/length3 (density).
 Units

- Are the means of expressing the

dimensions, such as feet or centimeters
for length, hours or seconds for time,
kilograms or grams for mass, Celsius or
Fahrenheit for temperature.
- Can be treated like algebraic variables
when quantities are added, subtracted,
multiplied or divided.
 Things to Remember:
✓ The numerical values of two quantities may be
added or subtracted only if the units are the same.
Examples:
3cm – 1 cm = 2 cm
10 kg + 5 kg = 15 kg
3 N x 4 m = 12 N•m

5.0 km ÷ 2.0 h = 2.5 km/h

10 cm x 7 cm/s = 70 cm2/s

(15.0 kg/s) ÷ (0.30 kg/m3) = 50 m3/s

 Conversion of Units

Conversion Factors
- Are statements of equivalent
values of different units in the
same system or between systems
of units.

Examples:
Convert 45 mg to its equivalent in grams

/ x __ 1 g___ = 0.045 g
45 mg
1000 mg/
 More Examples:
If a plane travels at twice the speed of sound
(assume that the speed of sound is 1100
ft/s), how fast is it going in miles per hour?
Solution:
/
2 x 1100 ft / x
x __1mi__ x _60 s_ / = 1500 mi
60 min

/s /
5280 ft /
1 min 1 hr 1 hr
 Systems of Units

Base Units
- For mass, length, time, temperature, electrical
current, and light intensity.

Multiple Units
- Which are defined as multiples or fractions of base units such
as minutes, hours, and milliseconds, all of which are defined in
terms of the base unit of second.
 Example of Conversion
Between Systems of Units:
Convert 50 lbm• ft/min2 to its equivalent in kg•cm/s2

Solution:
/•ft
50 lbm 0.453593 kg x 100 cm /2
x 1 min
2
x
/2
min 1/lbm /
3.281 ft 602 s2

= (50)(0.453593)(100) kg•cm
(3.281)(3600) s2

0.1920 kg•cm
s2
 Force and Weight
Force
- According to Newton’s second law of motion, is
proportional to the product of mass and acceleration
(length/time2).
Natural force units are:
kg•m/s2 (SI) lbm•ft/s2 (American engineering)
g•cm/s2 (CGS)
Derived force units are:
1 newton (N) = 1 kg•m/s2 (SI)
1 dyne = 1 g•cm/s2 (CGS system)
1 pound-force (lbf ) = 32.174 lbm•ft/s2 (American engineering)
 Examples:
The force in newtons required to accelerate a
mass of 5.00 kg at a rate of 6.00 m/s2 is:
F= / x 6.00 m
5.00 kg / x ___1 N___ = 30.0 N
s/2 / 2
1 kg•m/s

The force in lbf required to accelerate a mass of

5.00 lbm at a rate of 6.00 ft/s2 is:
5.00 lb
/m x 6.00 ft
/ x _____1 lbf_____ = 0.932 lb
F= f
s/2 32.174 lbm/•ft/s2
 Weight

- Is the force exerted on the object by

gravitational force W (weight of an object)
and that if this object were free falling
freely its acceleration would be g.
W = mg
The gravitational acceleration (g) varies directly with the mass
of the attracting body and inversely with the square of the
distance between the centers of the attracting body and the
objects being attracted.
g = 9.8066 m/s2
= 980.66 cm/s2
= 32.174 ft/s2
 Example:
Water has a density of 62.4 lbm/ft3. How much does 2.000
ft3 of water weight at the sea level and 45° latitude,
where the altitude is 5374 ft and the gravitational
acceleration is 32.139 ft/s2?
Solution:
The mass of the water is:
M = 62.4 lbm x 2/
ft3 = 124.8 lbm
ft
/3
The weight of the water at sea level where g=32.174 ft/s2 is:
W = 124.8 lb / x 32.174 /
m
ft x ____1 lbf_____
s/2 32.174 lb/
m•ft/s
2

W = 124.8 lbf
 Scientific Notation, Significant
Figures, and Precision
Scientific Notation
- It’s a convenient way to represent both very large and very
small numbers, in which a numbers is expressed as the
product of another number and a power of 10.
Example:
123,000,000 = 1.23 x 108 (or 0.123 x 109)

Significant figures of a number are the digits from

the first nonzero digit on the left to either (a) the
last digit (zero or nonzero) on the right if there is a
decimal point, or (b) the last nonzero digit of the
number if there is no decimal point.
RULE:
When two or more quantities are combined by
multiplication and/or division, the number of
significant figures in the result should equal the
lowest number of significant figures of any of the
multiplicands or divisors.

When two or more numbers are subtracted or added,

the positions of the last significant figures of each
number relative to the decimal point should be
compared. Of these positions, the one farthest to the
lest is the position of the last permissible significant
figure of the sum or difference.
 Validating Results
Approaches you can use to validate a
quantitative problem solution are:
Back-substitution – it is straight forward, after you solve a
set of equations, substitute your solution back into the
equations and make sure it works.

Order-of-magnitude estimation – means coming up with a

crude and easy-to-obtain approximation of the answer to a
problem and making sure that the more exact solution comes
reasonably close to it.

Test of reasonableness – means verifying that the solution

makes sense.
 Estimation of Measured Values:
Sample Mean
Sample Mean:

X= 1 (X1 + X2 + … + Xn)
N
 Sample Variance of Scattered
Data
Range: R = Xmax - Xmin

Sample Variance:

s2x = __1__ [(X -X)2 + (X – X)2 + … + (X – X)2]

1 2 n
N-1
___
Sample Standard Deviation: s x = √s2x
 Dimensional Homogeneity and
Dimensionless Quantities
Every valid equation must be dimensionally
homogeneous: that is, all additive terms on both
sides of the equation must have the same
dimensions.
Consider the equation:
u(m/s) = u0(m/s) + g(m/s2)t(s)

This equation is dimensionally homogeneous, since

each of the terms u,u0, and gt has the same
dimensions (length/time).
 Two-Point Linear Interpolation
The equation of the line through (x 1, y1) and (x2, y2)
on a plot of y versus x is

y = y1 + (x – x1) (y2 – y1)

x2 – x1

Note: If the points in a table are relatively close

together, linear interpolation should provide an
accurate estimate of y for any x and vice versa.
 Fitting a Straight Line
Suppose the values of a dependent variable y have been
measured for several values of an independent variable x,
and a plot of y versus x on rectangular coordinate axes yields
what appears to be a straight line. The equation you would
use to represent the relationship between x and y is then

y = ax + b
Slope: a = (y2 – y1)/(x2 - x1)

Intercept: b = y1 – ax1
= y2 – ax2
 Example: Fitting a Straight
Line to Flowmeter Calibration
Data
Rotameter calibration data are as follows:
Flow Rate (L/min) Rotameter
Reading
20.0 10
52.1 30
84.6 50
118.3 70
151.0 90
1. Draw a calibration curve and determine an equation for
V(R).
2. Calculate the flow rate that corresponds to a rotameter
reading of 36.
 Solution:
The calibration curve appears as follows:
Calibration Curve

200

150
Flow Rate

100 Series1

50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Rotameter Reading
R1 = 10, V1 = 20

R2 = 60, V2 = 101

Therefore,

Flow rate (V) = aR + b

a = (V2 – V1)/(R2-R1) b = V1 – aR1
= (101 – 20)/(60 - 10) = 20 – (1.62)(10)

= 1.62 = 3.8
The result is,

V = 1.62R + 3.8
 Fitting Nonlinear Data
- Fitting a nonlinear equation to data is usually much harder than fitting a
line; however with some nonlinear equations you can still use straight-
line fitting if you plot the data in suitable manner.

Procedure:
If you have (x, y) data that you wish to fit with an equation that can
be written in the form f (x, y) = ag(x, y) + b,
1. Calculate f(x,y) and g(x,y) for each tabulated (x,y) point, and plot
f versus g.
2. If the plotted points fall on a straight line, the equation fits the
data. Choose two points on the line – (g1, f1) and (g2, f2) – and
calculate a and b.

a = (f2 – f1)/(g2 – g1) b = f1 – ag1 or b = f2 – ag2

 Example: Linear Curve Fitting
of Nonlinear Data
A mass flow rate m(g/s) is measured as a function of
Temperature T(°C).

T 10 20 40 80
m 14.76 20.14 27.73 38.47
Where: m = aT1/2 + b
Use a straight-line plot to verify this formula and determine
a and b.
Solution:
If the formula is correct, a plot of m versus T1/2 should be linear,
with slope = a and intercept = b. The data table is augmented by
adding a T1/2 row:
 T 10 20 40 80
T1/2 3.162 4.472 6.325 8.944
m 14.76 20.14 27.73 38.47

Linear curve-fitting

50

40
30
m

Series1
20
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
(T)^1/2
 m = aT1/2 + b

Slope: a = (m2-m1)/(T1/22 – T1/21)

= (38.47 – 14.76)/(8.944 – 3.162)

= 4.10 g(s•°C1/2)

Intercept: b = m1 – aT1/21
= 14.76 – (4.10)(3.162)
= 1.80 g/s

m = 4.10 T1/2 +1.80

 Logarithmic Coordinates
Log plot – a plot with logarithmic scales on both axes.
Semilog plot – a plot with one logarithmic and one
rectangular axis.

ln y2 – ln y1 ln (y2/y1)
b= =
x 2 – x1 x 2 – x1

ln a = ln y1 – bx1
or

ln a = ln y2 – bx2