11.1 Temperature as a Fundamental Dimension 305
In order to see how this chapter fits into what you have been studying so far,
recall from our discussion in Chapter 6 that based on what we know about our
physical world today, we needseven fundamentalorbase dimensionsto correctly
express our natural world. The seven fundamental dimensions arelength,mass,
time,temperature,electric current,amount of substance,andluminous inten-
sity.Recall that with the help of these base dimensions, we can explain all other nec-
essary physical quantities that describe how nature works. In the previous chapters,
you studied the roles of length, mass, and time in engineering applications and in
your everyday lives. In this chapter, we will discuss the role of temperature, another
fundamental, or base, dimension, in engineering analysis. Table 6.7 is repeated here
again to remind you of the role of fundamental dimensions and how they are combined
to define variables that are used in engineering analysis and design.
11.1 Temperature as a Fundamental Dimension
Understanding what temperature means and what its magnitude or value represents is very
important in understanding our surroundings. Recall from our discussion in Chapter 6
that in order to describe how cold or hot something is, humans needed a physical quan-
tity, or physical dimension, which we now refer to as temperature. Think about the impor-
tant role of temperature in your everyday lives in describing various states of things. Do youCopyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀