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McKay, Donald. "Front matter" Multimedia Environmental Models ...

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Energy (joule, J)<br />

The joule, which is one N-m or Pa-m3,<br />

is also a small quantity. It replaces the<br />

obsolete units of calorie (which is 4.184 J) and Btu (1055 J).<br />

Temperature (K)<br />

The kelvin is preferred, although environmental temperatures may be expressed<br />

in degrees Celsius, °C, and not centigrade, where 0°C is 273.15 K. There is no<br />

degree symbol prior to K.<br />

Frequency (hertz, Hz)<br />

The hertz is one event per second (s–1).<br />

It is used in descriptions of acoustic and<br />

electromagnetic waves, stirring, and in nuclear decay processes where the quantity<br />

of a radioactive material may be described in becquerels (Bq), where 1 Bq corresponds<br />

to the amount that has a disintegration rate of 1 Hz. The curie (Ci), which<br />

corresponds to 3.7 ¥ 10 10 disintegrations per second (and thus 3.7 ¥ 10 10 Bq), was<br />

formerly used.<br />

Gas Constant (R)<br />

This constant, which derives from the gas law, is 8.314 J/mol K or Pa-m3/mol<br />

K.<br />

An advantage of the SI system is that R values in diverse units such as cal/mol K<br />

and cm3·atm/mol<br />

K become obsolete and a single universal value now applies.<br />

2.2.1 Prefices<br />

The following prefices are used:<br />

Note that these prefices precede the unit. It is inadvisable to include more than one<br />

prefix in a unit, e.g., ng/mg, although mg/kg may be acceptable, because the base<br />

unit of mass is the kg. The equivalent µg/g is clearer. The use of expressions such<br />

as an aerial pesticide spray rate of 900 g/km2<br />

can be ambiguous, since a kilo(metre2)<br />

is not equal to a square kilometre, i.e., a (km) 2.<br />

The former style is not permissible.<br />

©2001 CRC Press LLC<br />

Factor Prefix Factor Prefix<br />

101<br />

102<br />

103<br />

106<br />

109<br />

1012<br />

1015<br />

1018<br />

deka da 10–1<br />

hecto h 10–2<br />

kilo k 10–3<br />

mega M 10–6<br />

giga G 10–9<br />

tera T 10–12<br />

peta P 10–15<br />

exa E 10–18<br />

deci d<br />

centi c<br />

milli m<br />

micro m<br />

nano n<br />

pico p<br />

femto f<br />

atto a

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