CHEM 1201 Chapter : Dimensional Analysis
Document Summary
Dimensional analysis is a procedure for handling the units of a calculation. Suppose we want to convert inches to centimeters. The conversion factor between these units can be expressed as two ratios. 2. 54 cm = 1 because of the de nition. Solution the basic structure of the calculation looks like this. Inspecting the two conversion factors we can see that the units of cm will cancel and produce the units of inches if the calculation is performed using this conversion factor. The units come out wrong when the conversion factor is used in the wrong way. Conversion factors can be combined in several steps to make more complex conversions. Example convert 14. 5 inches to kilometes using the conversion factors 1 inch = 2. 54 cm. You should know all the metric conversions such as 1 meter = 100 cm and 1 kilometer = 1000. 2 meters. (see the appendix in the notes. )
