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Last active September 19, 2024 16:05
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Here’s a physics unit conversion cheat sheet for common quantities. You can use this to convert between different units of measure often encountered in physics problems.


Length/Distance

  • 1 meter (m) = 100 centimeters (cm)
  • 1 meter (m) = 1000 millimeters (mm)
  • 1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meters (m)
  • 1 inch (in) = 2.54 centimeters (cm)
  • 1 foot (ft) = 12 inches (in) = 0.3048 meters (m)
  • 1 mile = 1.609 kilometers (km)

Mass

  • 1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (g)
  • 1 gram (g) = 1000 milligrams (mg)
  • 1 metric ton = 1000 kilograms (kg)
  • 1 pound (lb) = 0.4536 kilograms (kg)
  • 1 ounce (oz) = 28.3495 grams (g)

Time

  • 1 minute = 60 seconds (s)
  • 1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds (s)
  • 1 day = 24 hours = 86,400 seconds (s)

Force

  • 1 newton (N) = 1 kg·m/s²
  • 1 dyne = $( 10^{-5} )$ N
  • 1 pound-force (lbf) = 4.448 N

Energy

  • 1 joule (J) = 1 N·m = 1 kg·m²/s²
  • 1 kilojoule (kJ) = 1000 joules (J)
  • 1 electron volt (eV) = $( 1.602 \times 10^{-19} )$ J
  • 1 calorie (cal) = 4.184 J
  • 1 kilocalorie (kcal) = 4184 J
  • 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = 3.6 × $( 10^6 )$ J

Power

  • 1 watt (W) = 1 J/s
  • 1 kilowatt (kW) = 1000 W
  • 1 horsepower (hp) = 746 W

Pressure

  • 1 pascal (Pa) = 1 N/m²
  • 1 atmosphere (atm) = 101,325 Pa
  • 1 bar = 100,000 Pa
  • 1 torr = 133.322 Pa
  • 1 psi (pounds per square inch) = 6894.76 Pa

Temperature

  • K = °C + 273.15 (Kelvin to Celsius)
  • °C = (°F - 32) / 1.8 (Celsius to Fahrenheit)

Speed/Velocity

  • 1 meter per second (m/s) = 3.6 kilometers per hour (km/h)
  • 1 kilometer per hour (km/h) = 0.27778 m/s
  • 1 mile per hour (mph) = 1.609 km/h

Electricity

  • 1 coulomb (C) = 6.242 × $( 10^{18} )$ electrons
  • 1 ampere (A) = 1 C/s
  • 1 volt (V) = 1 J/C
  • 1 ohm (Ω) = 1 V/A
  • 1 farad (F) = 1 C/V

Magnetism

  • 1 tesla (T) = 1 N/(A·m)
  • 1 gauss (G) = $( 10^{-4} )$ T

Frequency

  • 1 hertz (Hz) = 1 cycle per second ( $s(^{-1})$ )
  • 1 kilohertz (kHz) = 1000 Hz
  • 1 megahertz (MHz) = 1,000,000 Hz

Angle

  • 1 radian (rad) = 57.2958 degrees (°)
  • 1 degree (°) = $( \frac{\pi}{180} )$ radians

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