English Engineering Units

Last updated June 13, 2024

Some fields of engineering in the United States use a system of measurement of physical quantities known as the English Engineering Units.^[1]^[2] Despite its name, the system is based on United States customary units of measure.

Definition

The English Engineering Units is a system of coherent units used in the United States. The set is defined by the following units,^[3] and definitive conversions to the International System of Units.^[4]

Dimension	English Engineering Unit	SI unit	Unit conversion
time	second (s)	second (s)	1 s
length	foot (ft)	metre (m)	0.3048 m
mass	pound mass (lb)	kilogram (kg)	0.45359237 kg
force	pound-force (lbf)	newton (N)	4.4482216152605 N
temperature	degree Fahrenheit (°F)	degree Celsius (°C)	5/9 °C^{[lower-alpha 1]}
absolute temperature	degree Rankine (°R)	kelvin (K)	5/9 K

Units for other physical quantities are derived from this set as needed.

In English Engineering Units, the pound-mass and the pound-force are distinct base units, and Newton's Second Law of Motion takes the form $F=m{\frac {a}{g_{\mathrm {c} }}}$ where $a$ is the acceleration in ft/s² and $g c = 32.174 lb\cdotft/(lbf\cdots 2)$ .

History and etymology

The term English units strictly refers to the system used in England until 1826, when it was replaced by (more rigorously defined) Imperial units. The United States continued to use the older definitions until the Mendenhall Order of 1893, which established the United States customary units. Nevertheless, the term "English units" persisted in common speech and was adapted as "English engineering units" but these are based on US customary units rather than the pre-1826 English system.

British Engineering Units

A similar system, termed British Engineering Units by Halliday and Resnick (1974), is a system that uses the slug as the unit of mass, and in which Newton's law retains the form $F = m a$ .^[5] Modern British engineering practice has used SI base units since at least the late 1970s.^[6]

Notes

↑ A specific temperature is converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius by the formula $\{T\}_{\mathrm {^{\circ }C} }={\tfrac {5}{9}}(\{T\}_{\mathrm {^{\circ }F} }-32)$

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References

↑ Comings, E. W. (1940). "English Engineering Units and Their Dimensions". Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 32 (7): 984–987. doi:10.1021/ie50367a028.
↑ Klinkenberg, Adrian (1969). "The American Engineering System of Units and Its Dimensional Constant g_c". Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 61 (4): 53–59. doi:10.1021/ie50712a010.
↑ R. Zucker, O. Biblarz (2002). Fundamentals of Gas Dynamics. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-05967-6.
↑ United States. National Bureau of Standards (1959). Research Highlights of the National Bureau of Standards. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards. p. 13. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
↑ Halliday, David; Resnick, Robert (1974). Fundamentals of Physics (revised printing ed.). New York: Wiley. pp. 35, 68–69.
↑ Railway Construction and Operation Requirements – Structural and Electrical Clearances (PDF). London: Department of Transport. 1977. ISBN 0-11-550443-5 . Retrieved 29 March 2012. 1.2 These new sections represent the first stage of a complete revision and metrication of the 'Railway Construction and Operation Requirements for Passenger Lines and Recommendations for Goods Lines of the Minister of Transport', 1950 (Reprinted 1970). They are published separately in advance of the complete revision because of the urgent need for an up-to-date metric guide to the Department's requirements for clearances, both structural and electrical.

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[5] A specific temperature is converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius by the formula $\{T\}_{\mathrm {^{\circ }C} }={\tfrac {5}{9}}(\{T\}_{\mathrm {^{\circ }F} }-32)$

[1] Comings, E. W. (1940). "English Engineering Units and Their Dimensions". Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 32 (7): 984–987. doi:10.1021/ie50367a028.

[2] Klinkenberg, Adrian (1969). "The American Engineering System of Units and Its Dimensional Constant g_c". Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 61 (4): 53–59. doi:10.1021/ie50712a010.

[3] R. Zucker, O. Biblarz (2002). Fundamentals of Gas Dynamics. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-05967-6.

[Standards1959-4] United States. National Bureau of Standards (1959). Research Highlights of the National Bureau of Standards. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards. p. 13. Retrieved 31 July 2019.

[6] Halliday, David; Resnick, Robert (1974). Fundamentals of Physics (revised printing ed.). New York: Wiley. pp. 35, 68–69.

[7] Railway Construction and Operation Requirements – Structural and Electrical Clearances (PDF). London: Department of Transport. 1977. ISBN 0-11-550443-5 . Retrieved 29 March 2012. 1.2 These new sections represent the first stage of a complete revision and metrication of the 'Railway Construction and Operation Requirements for Passenger Lines and Recommendations for Goods Lines of the Minister of Transport', 1950 (Reprinted 1970). They are published separately in advance of the complete revision because of the urgent need for an up-to-date metric guide to the Department's requirements for clearances, both structural and electrical.

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