SYMBOLS, UNITS, AND MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES A3
TABLE 2 Subscripts for Symbols (continued)
Subscript Meaning
c concentration
combustion
critical
e nonexpansion (extra) work
f formation
freezing
fus fusion
H Henry
In indicator
J substance
K kinetic
L lattice
m molar
M Michaelis
mix mixing
P potential
P constant pressure
r reaction
s specific
sol solution
sp solubility product
sub sublimation
surr surroundings
tot total
V constant volume
vap vaporization
w water
0 initial
ground state
1B UNITS AND UNIT CONVERSIONS
Each physical quantity is reported as a multiple of a
defined unit:
Physical quantity  numerical value  unit
For instance, a length may be expressed as a multiple
of the unit of length, the meter, m; so we write l 
2.0 m if the length is the product of 2.0 (the
multiple) times the unit. All units are denoted by
Roman letters, such as m for meter and s for second,
that distinguish them from the physical quantity to
which they refer.
The Systme International (SI), is the internationally
accepted form and elaboration of the metric system. It
defines seven base units in terms of which all physical
quantities can be expressed:
meter, m The meter, the unit of length, is the length
of the path traveled by light during a time
interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
kilogram, kg The kilogram, the unit of mass, is the
mass of a standard cylinder maintained at a
laboratory in France.
Example (units)
equilibrium constant, Kc
enthalpy of combustion, Hc (kJmol1)
critical temperature, Tc (K)
electrical work, we (J)
enthalpy of formation, Hf (kJmol1)
formation constant, Kf
freezing temperature, Tf (K)
enthalpy of fusion, Hfus (kJmol1)
Henrys law constant, kH
indicator constant, KIn
partial pressure, PJ (Pa)
kinetic energy, EK (J)
lattice enthalpy, HL (kJmol1)
molar volume, Vm  V/n (Lmol1)
Michaelis constant, KM
enthalpy of mixing, Hmix (kJmol1)
potential energy, EP (J)
heat capacity at constant pressure, CP (JK1)
reaction enthalpy, Hr (kJmol1)
specific heat capacity, Cs  C/m (JK1g1)
enthalpy of solution, Hsol (kJmol1)
solubility product, Ksp
enthalpy of sublimation, Hsub (kJmol1)
entropy of surroundings, Ssurr (JK1)
total entropy, Stot (JK1)
heat capacity at constant volume, CV (JK1)
enthalpy of vaporization, Hvap (kJmol1)
water autoprotolysis constant, Kw
initial concentration, [A]0
wavefunction, 0
second, s The second, the unit of time, is
9 192 631 770 periods of a certain spectroscopic
transition in a cesium-133 atom.
ampere, A The ampere, the unit of electric current,
is defined in terms of the force exerted between
two parallel wires carrying the current.
kelvin, K The kelvin, the unit of temperature, is
1/273.16 of the absolute temperature of the triple
point of water.
mole, mol The mole, the unit of chemical amount,
is the amount of substance that contains as many
specified entities as there are atoms in exactly
12 g of carbon-12.
candela, cd The candela, the unit of luminous
intensity, is defined in terms of a carefully specified
source. We do not use the candela in this book.
Any unit may be modified by one of the prefixes
given in Table 3, which denote multiplication or division
by a power of 10 of the unit. Thus, 1 mm  103 m and
1 MK  106 K.
A4 APPENDIX 1

TABLE 3 Typical SI Prefixes

Prefix: deca- kilo- mega- giga- tera-
Abbreviation: da k M G T
Factor: 10 103 106 109 1012

Prefix: deci- centi- milli- micro- nano- pico- femto- atto- zepto-
Abbreviation: d c m  (mu) n p f a z
Factor: 101 102 103 106 109 1012 1015 1018 1021

Derived units are combinations of the base units.
They are used to express physical quantities that are
built up from the basic physical observables. For exam-
ple, volume is the product of three lengths, and so it is
expressed as a product of the base unit meter for each
occurrence of the length; therefore, the derived unit of
volume is (meter)3, denoted m3. Similarly, density, the
mass of a sample divided by its volume, is expressed in
terms of the base unit for mass divided by the derived
unit for volumenamely, kilogram/(meter)3, denoted
kg/m3 or, equivalently, kgm3. The SI convention is that
a power, such as the 3 in cm3, refers to the unit and its
multiple. That is, cm3 should be interpreted as (cm)3.
Many of the more common derived units have names
and abbreviations of their own, such as joule, J, for the
combination kgm2s2. Table 4 lists some of these
derived units. Note that the names of units derived from
the names of people all begin with a lowercase letter but
their abbreviations are uppercase.

TABLE 4 Derived Units with Special Names

Physical quantity Name of unit Abbreviation Definition

absorbed dose gray Gy Jkg1
dose equivalent sievert Sv Jkg1
electric charge coulomb C As
electric potential volt V JC1
energy joule J Nm, kgm2s2
force newton N kgms2
frequency hertz Hz s1
power watt W Js1
pressure pascal Pa Nm2, kgm1s2
volume liter L dm3

It is often necessary to convert one set of units (for SI units. Table 5 lists some common conversions; the
instance, calories for energy and inches for length) into values in boldface type are exact.

TABLE 5 Relations Between Units

Physical quantity Common unit Abbreviation SI equivalent

mass pound lb 0.453 592 37 kg
tonne t 103 kg (1 Mg)
ton (short, U.S.) ton 907.184 74 kg
ton (long, U.K.) ton 1016.046 kg
length inch in. 2.54 cm
foot ft 30.48 cm
volume U.S. quart qt 0.946 352 5 L
U.S. gallon gal 3.785 41 L
Imperial quart qt 1.136 522 5 L
Imperial gallon gal 4.546 09 L
time minute min 60 s
hour h 3600 s
(continued)
 SYMBOLS, UNITS, AND MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES A5

TABLE 5 Relations Between Unit (continued)

Physical quantity Common unit Abbreviation SI equivalent
energy calorie cal 4.184 J
(thermochemical)
electronvolt eV 1.602 177  1019 J
kilowatt-hour kWh 3.6  106 J
liter-atmosphere Latm 101.325 J
pressure torr Torr 133.322 Pa
atmosphere atm 101 325 Pa ( 760 Torr)
bar bar 105 Pa
pounds/square inch psi 6894.76 Pa
power horsepower hp 745.7 W
dipole moment debye D 3.335 64  1030 Cm

To convert between units, we use a conversion factor SELF-TEST 1A Express the height of a person 6.00 ft tall in
of the form centimeters.
[Answer: 183 cm]
units required
Conversion factor  SELF-TEST 1B Express the mass in ounces of a 250.-g
units given
package of breakfast cereal.
constructed from the relation
Units given  units required It is often necessary to convert a unit that is raised to
a power (including negative powers). In such cases, the
taken from information like that in Table 5 and applied conversion factor is raised to the same power. For exam-
as follows: ple, to convert a density of 11 700 kgm3 into grams
Information required  per centimeter cubed (gcm3), we use the two relations
information given  conversion factor 1 kg  103 g 1 cm  102 m
When using a conversion factor, we treat the units just as follows:
like algebraic quantities: they are multiplied or canceled
in the normal way. Thus, the units in the denominator of Density (gcm3)
the conversion factor cancel the units in the original 103 g 1 cm 3
data, leaving the units in the numerator of the conver-  (11700 kgm3)   a 2 b
1 kg 10 m
sion factor. The same procedure can be used to convert
103 g 106 m3
 a11700 3b 
decimal multiples or fractions of units. kg

m 1 kg 1 cm3
EXAMPLE 1 Converting units g
 11.7  11.7 gcm3
Suppose we want to convert a volume of 1.7 qt into liters. cm3
First, we identify the relation between the two units from
Table 5: SELF-TEST A2A Express a density of 6.5 gmm3 in
micrograms per nanometer cubed (gnm3).
1 qt  0.946 352 5 L
[Answer: 6.5  1012 gnm3]
The conversion factor from the units given (qt) to the units
required (L) is SELF-TEST A2B Express an acceleration of 9.81 ms2 in
kilometers per hour squared.
0.946 352 5 L
Conversion factor 
1 qt The conversion of temperatures is carried out
slightly differently. Because the Fahrenheit degree (F) is
Therefore,
smaller by a factor of 59 than a Celsius degree (because
0.946 352 5 L there are 180F between the freezing point and boiling
Volume (L)  (1.7 qt)   1.6 L
1 qt point of water but only 100C between the same two
points) and because 0C coincides with 32F, we use
5 95  Temperature (C)}  32
We have rounded the answer to two significant figures, as
explained in Appendix 1C. Temperature (F) 
A6 APPENDIX 1

(The 32 is exact.) For example, to convert 37C (blood
temperature) into degrees Fahrenheit, we write
Temperature (F)  ( 95  37 )  32  99
and the temperature is reported as 99F. A more sophis-
ticated way of expressing the same relation is to write
is one less than the number (disregarding the sign) to
which 10 is raised. Thus, 105 is written as a decimal
point followed by 5  1  4 zeros and then a 1:
105  101  101  101  101  101
 0.000 01

Temperature/F  ( 95  temperature/C )  32 The digits in a reported measurement are called the

In this expression, we treat temperature units like num-
bers and cancel them when it is appropriate. The same
conversion then becomes
Temperature/F 
significant figures. There are two significant figures
(written 2 sf) in 1.2 cm3 and 3 sf in 1.78 g. To find the
number of significant figures in a measurement, we first
express the data in scientific notation, leaving one
nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. Then we

5 95  (37C)/C}  32  ( 95  37 )  32  99
count the total number of digits. For instance, 0.0025 kg
is written as 2.5  103 kg, a value with 2 sf.
and multiplication through by F gives Some zeros are legitimately measured digits, but
other zeros serve only to mark the place of the decimal
Temperature  99F point. Trailing zeros (the last ones after a decimal point),
The corresponding expression for conversion between as in 22.0 mL, are significant, because they were mea-
the Celsius and Kelvin scales is sured. Thus, 22.0 mL has 3 sf. The captive zero in
80.1 kg is a measured digit, and so 80.1 kg has 3 sf.
Temperature/C  temperature/K  273.15 However, the leading digits in 0.0025 g are not signifi-
(The 273.15 is exact.) Note that the size of the degree cant; they are only placeholders used to indicate powers
Celsius is the same as that of the kelvin. of 10, not measured numbers. We can see that they are
only placeholders by reporting the mass as 2.5  103 g,
which has 2 sf.
1C SCIENTIFIC NOTATION We distinguish between the results of measurements,
In scientific notation, a number is written as A  10a. which are always uncertain, and the results of counting,
Here A is a decimal number with one nonzero digit in which are exact. For example, the report 12 eggs
front of the decimal point and a is a whole number. For means that there are exactly 12 eggs present, not a
example, 333 is written 3.33  102 in scientific notation, number somewhere between 11.5 and 12.5.
because 102  10  10  100: Some ambiguity arises with whole numbers ending
in zero. Does a length reported as 400 m have 3 sf
333  3.33  100  3.33  102
(4.00  102), 2 sf (4.0  102), or only 1 sf (4  102)? In
We use such cases, the use of scientific notation removes any
ambiguity. If it is not convenient to use scientific nota-
101  10
tion, a final decimal point can be used to indicate that
102  10  10  100 every digit to the left of the decimal is significant. Thus,
400 m is ambiguous and cannot be taken to have more
103  10  10  10  1000
than 1 sf unless other information is given. However,
104  10  10  10  10  10 000 400. m unambiguously has 3 sf.
Different rounding-off rules are needed for addition
and so on. Note that the number of zeros following 1 is
(and its reverse, subtraction) and multiplication (and its
equal to the power of 10.
reverse, division). In both procedures, we round off the
Numbers between 0 and 1 are expressed in the same
answers to the correct number of significant figures.
way, but with a negative power of 10; they have the form
A  10a, with 101  10 1
 0.1, and so on. Thus, Rounding off In calculations, round up if the last
0.0333 in decimal notation is 3.33  102 because digit is above 5 and round down if it is below 5.
For numbers ending in 5, always round to the
102  1
10  1
10  1
100
nearest even number. For example, 2.35 rounds
0.0333  3.33  1
100  3.33  102 to 2.4 and 2.65 rounds to 2.6. In a calculation
with multiple steps, round off only in the final
We use
step; if possible, carry all digits in the memory of
102  101  101  0.01 the calculator until that stage.
103  101  101  101  0.001 Addition and subtraction When adding or
subtracting, make sure that the number of
104  101  101  101  101  0.0001
decimal places in the result is the same as the
When a negative power of 10 is written out as a decimal smallest number of decimal places in the data.
number, the number of zeros following the decimal point For example, 0.10 g  0.024 g  0.12 g.