Dimensional Analysis How to calculate something and someone know what you did or was trying to do!

What is Dimensional Analysis? It is a fancy word for getting the correct “units” or “dimensions” Sometimes referred to as “railroad tracks” It helps you keep up with units. Let’s convert days to seconds This is the main “track” I day 24 hours 60 minutes 60 seconds = 86,400 seconds I day 1 hour 1 minute You work with numbers on top and bottom. On top you multiply, on the Bottom you divide. Each set is separated by a line.

Let’s do another one! Let’s convert 1000 gallons/hour to liters/sec. We have the units we need. Liters on top and seconds on bottom 1000 gallons 3.785 liters 1 hour 1 minute 1 gallon 60 minutes 60 seconds hour You multiply the top numbers and divide by the bottom! = 1.05 liters/second

Let’s do some more! Let’s convert 450,000 gallons to liters Let’s convert 1,500,000 inches to miles 1,500,000 inches 1 foot 1 mile = 23.7 miles 12 inches 5,280 feet

Let’s do some more! Let’s convert 23 short tons to ounces 2,000 lbs. 16 ounces = 736,000 ounces 1 ton 1 lb. Let’s convert 1,500,000 cm to miles 1,500,000 cm 1 inch 1 foot 1 mile = 9.3 miles 2.54 cm 12 inches 5,280 feet