Handbook for Sound Engineers

Fundamentals and Units of Measurement 1667

48.11 Technical Abbreviations

Many units or terms in engineering have abbreviations
accepted either by the U.S. government or by the acous-
ticians and audio consultants and engineers. Table 48-9
is a list of many of these abbreviations. Symbols for
multiple and submultiple prefixes are shown in Table
48-1.

hp (550 ft/lb/s) 7.456 999 × 10^2 W

hp (electric) 7.460 000 × 10^2 W

Pressure

atm (normal atmosphere) 1.031 250 × 10^5 Pa

bar 1.000 000 × 10^5 Pa

in Hg@ 60°F 3.376 850 × 10^3 Pa

dyn/cm^2 1.000 000 × 10–1 Pa

cm Hg@ 0°C 1.333 220 × 10^3 Pa

lbf/f^2 4.788 026 × 10^1 Pa

pdl/ft^2 1.488 164 × 10^0 Pa

Viscosity

cP 1.000 000 × 10–3 Pa•s

lb/ft•s 1.488 164 × 10^0 Pa•s

ft^2 /s 9.290 304 × 10–2 m^2 /s

Temperature

°C tC + 273.15 K

°F (tF + 459.67)/1.8 K

°R tR/1.8 K

°F (tF -32)/1.8 or

(tF -32) × (5/9)

°C

°C 1.8 (tC) + 32 or

(tC × (9/5)) + 32

°F

Table 48-9. Recommended Abbreviations

Unit or Term Symbol or

Abbreviation

1000 electron volts keV

A-weighted sound-pressure level in decibels dBA

absorption coefficient a

ac current Iac

ac volt Vac

acoustic intensity Ia

Acoustical Society of America ASA

adaptive delta pulse code modulation ADPCM

admittance Y

advanced access control system AACS

advanced audio coding AAC

advanced encryption standard AES

Table 48-8. U.S. to SI Units Conversion Factors

U.S. Unit Multiplier SI Unit

advanced technology attachment\ ATA

Advanced Television Systems Committee ATSC

alien crosstalk margin computation ACMC

alien far-end crosstalk AFEXT

alien near-end crosstalk ANEXT

all-pass filter APF

alternating current ac

aluminum steel polyethylene ASP

ambient noise level ANL

American Broadcasting Company ABC

American Federation of Television and Radio

Artists

AFTRA

American National Standards Institute ANSI

American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM

American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and

Air Conditioning Engineers

ASHRAE

American Standard Code for Information Inter-

change

ASCII

American Standards Association ASA

American wire gauge AWG

Americans with Disabilities Act ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act ADA

ampere A

ampere-hour Ah

ampere-turn At

amplification factor μ

amplitude modulation AM

analog to digital A/D

analog-to-digital converter ADC

angstrom Å

antilogarithm antilog

apple file protocol AFP

appliance wiring material AWM

articulation index AI

assisted resonance AR

assistive listening devices ALD

assistive listening systems ALS

asymmetric digital subscriber line ADSL

asynchronous transfer mode ATM

atmosphere normal atmosphere technical atmo-

sphere

atm at

atomic mass unit (unified) u

attenuation crosstalk ratio ACR

attenuation-to-cross talk ratio ACR

Audio Engineering Society AES

audio erase AE

audio frequency AF

Table 48-9. Recommended Abbreviations

Unit or Term Symbol or

Abbreviation