Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
For example, if x is a quantity, then x c is the characteristic unit used to scale it. As an illustrative example, consider a first order differential equation with constant coefficients: + = (). In this equation the independent variable here is t, and the dependent variable is x.
Dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one, [1] are quantities implicitly defined in a manner that prevents their aggregation into units of measurement. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Typically expressed as ratios that align with another system, these quantities do not necessitate explicitly defined units .
This is a list of well-known dimensionless quantities illustrating their variety of forms and applications. The tables also include pure numbers, dimensionless ratios, or dimensionless physical constants; these topics are discussed in the article.
Dimensionless numbers (or characteristic numbers) have an important role in analyzing the behavior of fluids and their flow as well as in other transport phenomena. [1] They include the Reynolds and the Mach numbers, which describe as ratios the relative magnitude of fluid and physical system characteristics, such as density, viscosity, speed of sound, and flow speed.
A United States Navy Aviation boatswain's mate tests the specific gravity of JP-5 fuel. Relative density, also called specific gravity, [1] [2] is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material.
In physics, a characteristic length is an important dimension that defines the scale of a physical system. Often, such a length is used as an input to a formula in order to predict some characteristics of the system, and it is usually required by the construction of a dimensionless quantity, in the general framework of dimensional analysis and in particular applications such as fluid mechanics.
A quantity equation, also sometimes called a complete equation, is an equation that remains valid independently of the unit of measurement used when expressing the physical quantities. [ 28 ] In contrast, in a numerical-value equation , just the numerical values of the quantities occur, without units.
In continuum mechanics, the Péclet number (Pe, after Jean Claude Eugène Péclet) is a class of dimensionless numbers relevant in the study of transport phenomena in a continuum. It is defined to be the ratio of the rate of advection of a physical quantity by the flow to the rate of diffusion of the same quantity driven by an appropriate gradient.