Physical conversion standards

Section 1 Basic Constants, Units, and Conversion Factors Fundamental Physical Constants Standard Atomic Weights (2001)... 

Section 2 combines the former separate section on Mathematics with the material involving General Information and Conversion Tables. The fundamental physical constants reflect values recommended in 1986. Physical and chemical symbols and definitions have undergone extensive revision and expansion. Presented in 14 categories, the entries follow recommendations published in 1988 by the lUPAC. The table of abbreviations and standard letter symbols provides, in a sense, an alphabetical index to the foregoing tables. The table of conversion factors has been modified in view of recent data and inclusion of SI units cross-entries for archaic or unusual entries have been curtailed. 

This list contains various conversion factors and physical constants used by Gaussian in converting from standard to atomic units. 

In the design of an industrial scale reactor for a new process, or an old one that employs a new catalyst, it is common practice to carry out both bench and pilot plant studies before finalizing the design of the commercial scale reactor. The bench scale studies yield the best information about the intrinsic chemical kinetics and the associated rate expression. However, when taken alone, they force the chemical engineer to rely on standard empirical correlations and prediction methods in order to determine the possible influence of heat and mass transfer processes on the rates that will be observed in industrial scale equipment. The pilot scale studies can provide a test of the applicability of the correlations and an indication of potential limitations that physical processes may place on conversion rates. These pilot plant studies can provide extremely useful information on the temperature distribution in the reactor and on contacting patterns when... 

The system defines seven base units (Table 1.7), which are independent of each other but which can be combined in various ways to provide a range of derived units (Table 1.8), each one capable of describing a physical quantity. Coherence is maintained in these derived units because no conversion factors are involved at this stage but in order to provide units of convenient size for different applications a series of standard prefixes may be used. These are multipliers used with coherent units to obtain units of alternative size but only one prefix should be used at a time (Table 1.9). 

Measurements of the common physical constants such as boiling point or refractive index are not sufficiently sensitive to determine the trace amounts of impurities in question. Besides the common spectroscopic methods, techniques like gas chromatography (GC), high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), or thin-layer chromatography (TLC) are useful. The surest criterion for the absence of interfering foreign compounds lies in the polymerization itself the purification is repeated until test polymerizations on the course of the reaction under standard conditions are reproducible (conversion-time curve, viscosity number of the polymers). 

Specific factors to consider are both psychiatric and physical contraindications. For example, bupropion is contraindicated in a depressed patient with a history of seizures due to the increased risk of recurrence while on this agent. Conversely, it may be an appropriate choice for a bipolar disorder with intermittent depressive episodes that is otherwise under good control with standard mood stabilizers. This consideration is based on the limited data suggesting that bupropion is less likely to induce a manic switch in comparison with standard heterocyclic antidepressants. Another example is the avoidance of benzodiazepines for the treatment of panic disorder in a patient with a history of alcohol or sedative-hypnotic abuse due to the increased risk of misuse or dependency. In this situation, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) may be more appropriate. 

This scheme differs from the various systems in use in industry and academia in that it uses the mole instead of the cc(STP) to express the quantity of matter being transported, the pascal rather than the atmosphere or the cm. Hg. to express pressure, the meter rather than the mil, the inch, or the centimeter to express length, and the second rather than the day to express time. Our experience indicates that the existing variety of unit systems leads to confusion and that calculations of related physical properties such as permeabilities, diffusion coefficients, and solubilities are easier using the SI units. More modern measurement systems which detect permeants by means of the electrical currents generated by individual atoms are easier to analyze when one uses moles rather than cc(STP) to express the amount of matter undergoing transport. Applications involving the transport of mixed permeant species are also easier to deal with on a molar basis. Conversion tables between the SI units and customary units are provided on the SRM certificate and in the appropriate standards documents (4, 5). ... 

In summary, a reference state or standard state must be defined for each component in the system. The definition may be quite arbitrary and may be defined for convenience for any thermodynamic system, but the two states cannot be defined independently. When the reference state is defined, the standard state is determined conversely, when the standard state is defined, the reference state is determined. There are certain conventions that have been developed through experience but, for any particular problem, it is not necessary to hold to these conventions. These conventions are discussed in the following sections. The general practice is to define the reference state. This state is then a physically realizable state and is the one to which experimental measurements are referred. The standard state may or may not be physically realizable, and in some cases it is convenient to speak of the standard state for the chemical potential, for the enthalpy, for the entropy,... 

In carrying out any analysis, it is important to ensure that all units of measurement used are consistent. For example, mass may be given in kg (kilogrammes), in lb (pounds) or in any other units. If two quantities are given in different units, one quantity must be converted to the same unit as the other quantity. Any book on chemical engineering (or physics and chemistry) will have conversion tables for standard units. 

Refs. [i] The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainties (2003), http //physics.nist.gov/cuu/constants [ii] Mills I (2004) Chemistry International (IUPAC) 26(3) 17 [iii] Mills I, Cvitas T, Homann K, Kallay N, Kuchitsu K (eds) (1993) IUPAC quantities, units and symbols in physical chemistry. Blackwell, Oxford, p 58 [iv] Cardarelli F (1997) Scientific unit conversion. A practical guide to metrication. Springer, London... 

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