org.gjt.fredgc.unit
Downloads Source Javadoc
Author: Fred Gylys-Colwell
Home Page:
Version: $Name: $, $Revision: 1.19 $
Release Tag: $
Release Date: 2002/02/09 05:38:47
JVM Required: 1.2 @gjtmain Converter
License: Public Domain
Categories: utility, scientific
Requirements:
Dependencies: org.gjt.fredgc.misc, org.gjt.fredgc.function
Externals: None
The unit package allows one to convert from one set of units to another. For example from feet to meters. Most of the conversion factors are taken from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST.

An example of the {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Converter} applet is on my Homepage The main classes are the {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Unit}, which represents a particular unit of measure; the {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Quantity}, which represents a number or quantity, together with the unit is is measured in; and the subclasses of {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.UnitSystem}, which, when given a unit, can find the corresponding unit in a given system of units.

The default units are given as: m (meters), s (seconds), kg (kilograms), K (Kelvin), mol (Moles), A (Amperes), and cd (candelas).

Use {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Unit#newUnit(String)}, {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Unit#newUnit(String, double, String)}, {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Unit#newUnit(String, double, String, double)}, or {@linkorg.gjt.fredgc.unit.Unit#newUnit(String, double, Unit, double)} to create a new unit. You may use a combination of any of the standard units, including standard prefixes. Strings are case sensitive mm is milimeter, Mm is megameter, and MM will generate an error. Each unit is made up of a fraction of other units. Everything to the left of the slash is in the numerator and everything to the right is in the denominator -- parenthesis are not used (it's a bug, not a feature...). For example the unit kW/m^2 is the same as 1715 times the unit Btu/h ft^2.
Standard Prefixes
Prefix used in code Prefix for written unit Multiplier
da- deka- 10
h- hecto- 100
k- kilo- 1000
M- mega- 1e6
G- giga- 1e9
T- tera- 1e12
P- peta- 1e15
E- exa- 1e18
Z- zeta- 1e21
Y- yotta- 1e24
d- deci- 1e-1
c- centi- 1e-2
m- milli- 1e-3
mu- micro- 1e-6
n- nano- 1e-9
p- pico- 1e-12
f- femto- 1e-15
a- atto- 1e-18
z- zepto- 1e-21
y- yocto- 1e-24

Built In Units
Unit Symbol Definition Comments
Time
second sec 1 s  
minute min 60 s  
hour hr 60 min  
hour hour 1 hr alternate symbol
hour h 1 hr alternate symbol
day day 24 hr  
shake shake 10 ns  
Hertz Hz 1 s^-1  
Length or Distance
international foot ft 0.3048 m  
inch in 1.0/12.0 ft  
international mile mile 5280.0 ft  
international mile mi 1 mile alternate symbol
milli-inch mil 0.001 in  
micron micron 1e-6 m  
Parsec pc 3.085678e16 m  
League league 3 mile  
Astronomical Unit ua 1.49598e11 m  
Astronomical Unit AU 1.49598e11 m alternate symbol
yard yd 3 ft  
Angstrom Ang 1e-10 m (I call it Ang, because I can't spell Å in java)
Angstrom \\AA 1 Ang alternate symbol
furlong furlong 220 yd  
fathom fathom 6 ft (my dad is sea foam)
Rod rd 16.5 ft  
U.S. survey foot sft (1200./3937.) m  
U.S. survey mile smi 5280 sft also called statue mile
point pt 1./72. in Typeface Point
pica pica 1./6. in Typeface Pica
Temperature
Celsius C 1 K -273.15  
Rankine R 5.0/9.0 K  
Fahrenheit F 1 R -459.67  
Mass
gram g 0.001 kg This is case sensitive.
gram gm g (alternate symbol)
pound mass lbm 0.45359237 kg (avoirdupois)
Troy pound lbt 0.3732417 kg (apothecary)
carat (metric) carat 0.2 g  
slug slug 1 lb sec^2/ft  
snail snail 1 lb sec^2/in  
Short Ton ton 2000 lbm  
Long Ton ton_l 2240 lbm  
Ounce oz 28.34952 g (avoirdupois)
Grain gr 64.79891 mg  
Pennyweight dwt 1.55174 g  
Force or Weight
Newton N 1 kg m/s^2  
Dyne dyn 1e-5 N  
pound force lb lbm G  
pound force lbf lbm G  
poundal poundal 1 lbm ft/sec^2  
kilopound kip 1000 lbf  
kilogram force kgf kg G  
Energy
Joule J 1 N m  
British Therm. Unit BTU 1055.056 J (International Table)
British Therm. Unit Btu 1 BTU alternate symbol
British Therm. Unit BTU_th 1054.350 J (Thermochemical)
calorie cal 4.1868 J (International Table)
calorie cal_th 4.184 J (Thermochemical)
Calorie Cal 4.1868 kJ (nutritionists)
electron volt eV 1.602177e-19 J  
erg erg 1e-7 J  
Ton of TNT TNT 4.184e9 J  
Power
Watt W 1 J/s  
Horse Power hp 550 ft lb/s  
Pressure
bar bar 1e5 N/m^2  
Pascal Pa 1 N/m^2  
Pounds per sq. inch psi 1 lb/in^2  
Pounds per sq. ft. psf 1 lb/ft^2  
kilo psi ksi 1000.0 psi  
atmospheres atm 1.01325e5 N/m^2  
inches of Mercury inHg 3.387 kPa  
millimeters Mercury mmHg 0.1333 kPa  
Torr torr 1.333224 Pa  
Volume or Area
Liter L 1/1000.0 m^3  
gallon gal 3.785412 L  
Pint (U.S. liquid) pint 1/8. gal  
Quart (U.S. liquid) qt 2 pint  
Pint (U.S. dry) dpint 0.5506105 L  
Quart (U.S. dry) dqt 2 dpint  
Acre acre 1/640.0 smi^2  
Hectare ha 10000 m^2  
Barrel (petroleum) barrel 158.9873 L  
Fluid Ounce oz_fl 29.57353 mL  
Gill (U.S.) gi 0.1182941 L  
Peck (U.S.) pk 8.809768 L  
Tablespoon tbl 1/32. pint  
Teaspoon tsp 1/3. tbl  
Cup cup 16. tbl  
Electromagnetism
Coulomb Co 1 A s Electric Charge
Volt V 1 W/A Electric Potential
Ohm ohm 1 V/A Electric Resistance
Ohm \\Omega 1 V/A alternate symbol
Faraday faraday 96485.31 Co Electric Charge
Farad farad Co/V Capacitance
Stokes stokes 1e-4 m^2/s  
Oersted Oe 79.57747 A/m  
Webber Wb V s Magnetic flux
Tesla Tesla Wb/m^2 Magnetic flux density
Henry H Wb/A Inductance
Siemens S A/V Electrical Conductance
Light and Radiation
Lux lux cd/m^2 Iluminance
Lux lx cd/m^2  
Lumen lm cd Luminous Flux
Stilb sb 10000 cd/m^2  
Phot ph 10000 lx  
Becquerel Bq s^-1 activity
Gray Gy J/kg Absorbed Dose, kerma
Sievert Sv J/kg Dose equivalent
Other Quantities
pound mole lbmole 1 mol lbm/g quantity
poise poise 1 g /sec cm viscocity
Gravity's accel. G 9.80665 m/sec^2 Gravity on Earth
Degree deg Pi/180 Can be used to convert from degrees to radians for trig functions.
radian rad 1 Actually, radian is a pure number.
steradian st 1 The unit surface area of a sphere. It is really a pure number.
Percent % 0.01  
Knot knot 1852 m/hr velocity
Miles per Hour mph 1 mi/hr velocity
Gallon/minute gpm 1. gal/min flow rate
Revolution/minute rpm 360 deg/min  
Obscure
ch'ih chih 32 cm Chinese
feddan feddan 4.193 m^2 Egyptian
vara vera 0.84 m Nicaraguan
verst verst 1.067 km Russan
Humor
  1 million microphones 1 megaphone (it's a joke! Get it?)
  1 million bicycles 2 megacycles  
  2000 mockingbirds 2 kilomockingbirds  
  10 cards 1 decacards (or is it 52 cards = 1 deck-a-cards?)
  1/2 lavatory 1 demijohn  
  1 millionth of a fish 1 microfiche  
  453.6 graham crackers 1 pound cake  
  10 rations 1 decoration  
  1 ship 1 millihelen  
  10 millipedes 1 centipede  
  3-1/3 tridents 1 decadent  
  10 monologs 5 dialogues  
  2 monograms 1 diagram  
  8 nickles 2 paradigms  

If you would prefer to use lb for pound mass, you can have the code
Unit.newUnit("lb", 1, "lbm")
before you use it. This will create a new unit with the same name as the old one, but with a new definition. This new Unit is then stored in the internal table of units under the name "lb". Now, any more calls to newUnit will use this new definition of "lb".

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Btu and calorie were redefined at the Fifth International Conference on the Properties of Steam (London, July 1956). These are marked as International Table above. An alternate definition is listed as "Thermochemical".

Note to would-be package maintainers: to add a new unit, you should edit the file UnitList.java, which will create package.html and UnitInit.java. The parser in this package was created with JavaCC

Downloads

The following page lists the available downloads for the release of package 'org.gjt.fredgc.unit' tagged ' $'. If you need to work with releases other than ' $', you will need to use the anonymous CVS server to access them.