Abstract
Dimensional analysis is given a simplified introduction. Its relationship to the design, the ordering, the performance and the data analysis of experiments is shown through simple examples. A start is made on the logic of the analysis commencing with the basic feature of measurement in science which is followed by the introduction of the associated units-conversion factors. The basic dimensional system is presented leading to the fundamental premise on which the whole analysis is founded. As a preliminary introduction to the pi-theorem, specific physical examples are given.
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Notes
- 1.
We scientists are not very bright when we adopt the basic unit of mass having the prefix kilo- and when in a decimal system a time scale goes by the factors 60, 60 and 24.
- 2.
In the older European literature, which is still used for data, \( k_{\text{D}} \) is defined without the factor of \( 1/2 \) so that \( k_{\text{D}}=C_{\text{D}}/2 \).
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Gibbings, J. (2011). An Elementary Introduction. In: Dimensional Analysis. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-317-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-317-6_1
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