TABLE OF CONTENTS Appendix B is the professional reference appendix. Once you understand how to make the calculations described in the preceding chapters, this is the place to look up all of those numbers you are going to need.
The most common constants and unit conversions are listed in the following three tables. For a comprehensive set of conversions to the SI system see NIST Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI). [1]
| Parameter | English unit | SI unit |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical unit | 92,955,620 miles | 149,597,870 km |
| Density of water (4 C) | 62.4266 lb/ft 3 | 999.978 kg/m 3 |
| e | 2.71626 | same |
| Gravitational acceleration-Earth | 32.1740 ft/s 2 | 9.08665 m/s 2 |
| Julian century | 36,525 days | same |
| Light year | 5.879 10 12 miles | 9.4607 10 12 km |
| Mechanical equivalent heat, J | 778 ft-lb/Btu | 4190 calories/joule |
| Pi | 3.1415926535 | same |
| Solar constant at Earth | 434.9 1.6 Btu/ft 2-h | 1371 5 W/m 2 (NASA) |
| Speed of light (vacuum) | 9.8357 10 8 fps | 299,792.5 km/s |
| Standard atmosphere | 14.696 psia | 1.01325 10 5 pascal |
| Universal gas constant, R u | 1545 ft-lb f/lb m-mole R | 8314 N-m/kg-mole- K |
| n | Prefix | n | Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | deka | ?1 | deci |
| 2 | hecto | ?2 | centi |
| 3 | kilo | ?3 | milli |
| 6 | mega | ?6 | micro |
| 9 | giga | ?9 | nano |
| 12 | tetra | ?12 | pico |
| Multiply | By | To get |
|---|---|---|
| Acceleration ft/s 2 |
