Unit conversions involving Pascals

  • Thread starter Thread starter chriscarson
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Unit
Click For Summary
A discussion on unit conversions involving Pascals highlighted the relationship between different pressure units, specifically how to convert Newtons per square meter (N/m²) into Pascals (Pa) and kilopascals (kPa). Participants clarified that 1 Pa equals 1 N/m² and provided examples of converting large values, such as 15,625,000 N/m² to 15,625 kPa. The conversation also touched on the importance of using correct units and significant figures in calculations, particularly when dealing with areas and constants like π. Misunderstandings about negative exponents and unit conversions were addressed, emphasizing the need for clarity in mathematical expressions. Overall, the thread served as a learning platform for those grappling with unit conversions and foundational concepts in physics.
  • #31
Mister T said:
Try it this way: πr2=π(0.025 m)2πr2=π(0.025 m)2.

That s exactly what I did
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
chriscarson said:
That s exactly what I did
But you messed up the units. Note that @Mister T suggested you carry the units in the calculation.$$\pi \times 0.025 \text{m} \times 0.025 \text{m} = 0.0019635 \text{m}^2$$Which is different from$$0.0019635\text{m}$$
 
  • #33
jbriggs444 said:
But you messed up the units. Note that @Mister T suggested you carry the units in the calculation.$$\pi \times 0.025 \text{m} \times 0.025 \text{m} = 0.0019635 \text{m}^2$$Which is different from$$0.0019635\text{m}$$

yes apart of the units , the answer is 0.00196375 m 2 , is it acceptable in an exam ?
 
  • #34
chriscarson said:
yes apart of the units , the answer is 0.00196375 m 2 , is it acceptable in an exam ?
Yes, almost certainly. The units I would expect area to be reported in would be square meters.

However... The rules for significant figures suggest that less precision should be reported. And the calculated result you give is incorrect in the last two digits.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #35
jbriggs444 said:
Yes, almost certainly. The units I would expect area to be reported in would be square meters.

Ok . thanks again
 
  • #36
chriscarson said:
Ok . thanks again
Note the caveats I've edited into the previous post.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #37
jbriggs444 said:
Yes, almost certainly. The units I would expect area to be reported in would be square meters.

However... The rules for significant figures suggest that less precision should be reported. And the calculated result you give is incorrect in the last two digits.
I did , 0.025m x 0.025m = 0.000625 m2

0.000625 x 3.142 = 0.00196375m2
 
Last edited:
  • #38
chriscarson said:
I did , 0.025m x 0.025m = 0.000625 m2

0.000625 x 3.142 = 0.00196375m2
##\pi## is not equal to 3.142 -- at least not to the six significant figures that you quoted in the result.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #39
jbriggs444 said:
##\pi## is not equal to 3.142 -- at least not to the six significant figures that you quoted in the result.

so that could be were I m mistaken ?
 
  • #40
jbriggs444 said:
##\pi## is not equal to 3.142 -- at least not to the six significant figures that you quoted in the result.

so that could be were I m mistaken ?
 
  • #41
chriscarson said:
so that could be were I m mistaken ?
You've not told us that someone told you that you were mistaken. We are not mind readers.
 
  • #42
jbriggs444 said:
You've not told us that someone told you that you were mistaken. We are not mind readers.

I mean I am asking if it is that what I am doing wrong. If it is because I am using only till 3.142 than 6 significant figures.
 
  • #43
chriscarson said:
I mean I am asking if it is that what I am doing wrong. If it is because I am using only till 3.142 than 6 significant figures.
When in doubt, check it out.

Let us make three attempts at the calculation. One using the truncated figure for ##\pi##, one using a value of pi that is good for six figures and one using a value that is good for as much as Windows calculator will do.

##\pi## is approximately 3.141_592_653_589_793_238_462_6. Usually, people remember it to three digits (3.14) because the next digit is a one and it's a no brainer to round 3.141 down to 3.14. Often people remember it to 5 digits (3.1416) because the next digit is a nine and it's a no brainer to round 3.14159 up to 3.1416. However, you have chosen to remember it to 4 digits (3.142), rounding 3.1415 up to 3.142. That's a remarkably poor place to truncate the decimal expansion since it was nearly a 50/50 choice to round up or down, given that the first truncated digit was a five.

On to the checking out part...

Four digit calculation: 3.142 x 0.0252: Calculator says 0.00196375. Rounded to six significant figures, that is still 0.00196375. Rounded to two significant figures, it is 0.0020.

Six digit calculation: 3.14159 x 0.0252: Calculator says 0.00196349375. Rounded to six significant figures, that is 0.00196349. Rounded to two significant figures, it is 0.0020.

My windows calculator limit: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795 x 0.0252: Calculator says 0.00196349540849362077403915211455. Rounded to six significant figures, that is 0.00196350. Rounded to two significant figures, it is 0.0020.

Note how the last two digits in the six figure result changed depending on the accuracy of the figure used for pi. Note how the last digit in the six figure result was incorrect even though the calculation used a value for pi that was good to six digits.

1. If you are going to use a defined constant, use it with all available precision.
2. If you are going to compute an intermediate result, use all available precision.
3. When you report a final result, round it to the appropriate number of significant figures. In this case, with inputs good to two significant figures, the result should have been reported to two digits or certainly no more than three.

These rules of thumb will get you through at least freshman physics. Real numerical analysis and error analysis goes way deeper.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #44
chriscarson said:
thanks for your time I will study more to what you wrote , it will help for sure.

So from you wrote , the best thing is that they tell you to how many numbers should be rounded , the pi and the answer.
 
  • #45
When you make 3.14 x ( 0.025m x 0.025m) = 0.0019625m2 converted to mm is 1.9625mm2

and if you make 3.14 x ( 25mm x 25mm ) = 1962.5mm2 converted to m is 1.9625m2

I think it s a matter when you convert or in the question or in the answer . Results are different.
 
  • #46
chriscarson said:
When you make 3.14 x ( 0.025m x 0.025m) = 0.0019625m2 converted to mm is 1.9625mm2
No, it is not.

As I'd already pointed out in post #27, the conversion factor between square meters and square millimeters is 1,000,000. There are one million squares, one millimeter on a side in a square that is one meter on a side.

You are not converting from meters to millimeters. You are converting from square meters to square millimeters.

$$0.0019625 \text{ m}^2 \times \frac{1,000,000 \text{ mm}^2}{1 \text{ m}^2} = 1962.5 \text{ mm}^2$$

I am running out of different ways to say this.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #47
jbriggs444 said:
No, it is not.

As I'd already pointed out in post #27, the conversion factor between square meters and square millimeters is 1,000,000. There are one million squares, one millimeter on a side in a square that is one meter on a side.

You are not converting from meters to millimeters. You are converting from square meters to square millimeters.

$$0.0019625 \text{ m}^2 \times \frac{1,000,000 \text{ mm}^2}{1 \text{ m}^2} = 1962.5 \text{ mm}^2$$
oh I think I get it now so the best is convert in the question , because they told me that the answer have to be in Newtons and meters.
 
  • #48
chriscarson said:
oh I think I get it now so the best is convert in the question , because they told me that the answer have to be in Newtons and meters.
Given an input measurement of 25 millimeters radius and desiring a result for the area of a corresponding circle, there are two ways to proceed.

1. Convert 25 millimeters to meters and compute ##\pi r^2## with the result in square meters.
2. Compute ##\pi r^2## with the result in square millimeters and convert the result to square meters.

Let us proceed with the first approach.
$$r=25\text{ mm} \times \frac{1\text{ m}}{1000\text{ mm}}=0.025\text{m}$$ $$a=\pi r^2=\pi (0.025\text{ m})^2=0.0019635\text{ m}^2$$ Round to 0.0020 m2Let us try the second approach instead.
$$r=25\text{ mm}$$ $$a=\pi r^2=\pi\ (25\text{ mm})^2=1963.5\text{ mm}^2=1963.5\text{ mm}^2 \times (\frac{1\text{ m}}{1000\text{ mm}})^2=\frac{1963.5}{1000 \times 1000}\text{ m}^2 = 0.0019635\text{ m}^2$$ Round to 0.0020 m2

Six of one. Half dozen of the other.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #49
chriscarson said:
because they told me that the answer have to be in Newtons and meters.
Who is "they"? Has this been for your homework all along?
 
  • #50
berkeman said:
Who is "they"? Has this been for your homework all along?

The teacher said you have always to give the result in N/m2 (Newton meter squared)
 
  • #51
jbriggs444 said:
Given an input measurement of 25 millimeters radius and desiring a result for the area of a corresponding circle, there are two ways to proceed.

1. Convert 25 millimeters to meters and compute ##\pi r^2## with the result in square meters.
2. Compute ##\pi r^2## with the result in square millimeters and convert the result to square meters.

Let us proceed with the first approach.
$$r=25\text{ mm} \times \frac{1\text{ m}}{1000\text{ mm}}=0.025\text{m}$$ $$a=\pi r^2=\pi (0.025\text{ m})^2=0.0019635\text{ m}^2$$ Round to 0.0020 m2Let us try the second approach instead.
$$r=25\text{ mm}$$ $$a=\pi r^2=\pi\ (25\text{ mm})^2=1963.5\text{ mm}^2=1963.5\text{ mm}^2 \times (\frac{1\text{ m}}{1000\text{ mm}})^2=\frac{1963.5}{1000 \times 1000}\text{ m}^2 = 0.0019635\text{ m}^2$$ Round to 0.0020 m2

Six of one. Half dozen of the other.
Ok so you did convert from square mm to square m but in the proper way , I used an online converter.
 
  • #52
82465263_1428243114021135_478090676781711360_n.jpg
82492416_2483116951928793_2195299901158457344_n.png


I always stop to something when I try to make a sum , this time I have this to make me confuse , same exactly sum but different calculators different results .
 
  • #53
That's the same result, just written in a different format. The e-5 at the end of the first number is a standard computer and calculator way of writing ##×10^{-5}##. So that number is ##3.333×10^{-5}##, which is ##3.333×\frac 1{10^5}## or ##3.333×\frac 1{100,000}## or 0.00003333, which is what the other calculator says.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #54
Ibix said:
That's the same result, just written in a different format. The e-5 at the end of the first number is a standard computer and calculator way of writing ##×10^{-5}##. So that number is ##3.333×10^{-5}##, which is ##3.333×\frac 1{10^5}## or ##3.333×\frac 1{100,000}## or 0.00003333, which is what the other calculator says.
Oh so much to learn I guess .
Thanks
 
  • #55
chriscarson said:
Oh so much to learn I guess .
Thanks
This stuff is like learning where to put your fingers on a guitar or something. It's slow going and you get a lot of nasty sounds, but you have to learn it if you want to play. It does eventually become second nature and it's really difficult to remember not knowing how to do it. :oldbiggrin:
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #56
Ibix said:
This stuff is like learning where to put your fingers on a guitar or something. It's slow going and you get a lot of nasty sounds, but you have to learn it if you want to play. It does eventually become second nature and it's really difficult to remember not knowing how to do it. :oldbiggrin:

great simplification of what you mean.:smile: going to keep this quote to motivate who s going to give up, well done
 
Last edited:
  • #57
And it keeps going with strange things, last question is to find the young modulus , in the notes if found this to confuse me , E is equal to two different formulas
81915116_2214977535476381_1031370794803920896_n.jpg
 
  • #58
chriscarson said:
E is equal to two different formulas
Use the one for which you have the required variables.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson
  • #59
Note that the ##x## in the second formula should be the multiplication symbol ×.

Stress is force over area. Strain is length change over original length. The second formula is what you get when you substitute those definitions into the first formula.
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson and Vanadium 50
  • #60
chriscarson said:
Ok so you did convert from square mm to square m but in the proper way , I used an online converter.
Online converters work. Just have to use the right units. I Googled "convert square millimeters to square meters". Without leaving the Google page, a converter was displayed. I keyed in 1963.5.
1578925621181.png
 
  • Like
Likes chriscarson

Similar threads

  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
962
Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
16
Views
2K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
6K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
16K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K