Physical Units Factor Tables (PUFT)

Physical Units Factor Tables (PUFT)

Link to full-size PUFT picture

[Edit: Link to PDF]

I drafted the Physical Units Factor Tables (PUFT) a bit over a year ago, and meant to send it off to publishers, as a poster chart for physics classrooms similar to the periodic table in chemistry classes. but I somehow never got around to it.

The Physical Units Factor Tables organize 50 types of physical units by their factors of length, time, mass and charge so that the mathematical  relationships between physical units are easy to see.

The Physical Units Factor Tables encourage anyone who can multiply and divide simple fractions to deduce equations in mechanics and electromagnetics .

The single-page  document is also marginally legible when printed in color on a single sheet of letter-size paper, but students and teachers with access to computers will likely find the electronic version easier on the eyes.

Each move left represents multiplication by length, each move down is division by time ( = multiplication by frequency). Similarly, moving right represents division by length and each move up represents multiplying by time. These factors are the same in all tables in the stack, with each lower table having an additional factor:

light blue table = * mass
green table       = * 1/charge
pink table         = * mass/charge
purple table      = * mass/charge^2

The names of the unit types are taken from Alan Eliasen's wonderful  calculator and physically-typed programming language, Frink. (Except for the ones whose top line is in parentheses; these names aren't listed in Frink, though it can easily compute using such quantities.)

The original was done in an Open Office spreadsheet, then saved as a PDF file. Among several other versions, I also have one that is more legible from a distance for use as a poster.

If any publishers or science teachers are interested in using PUFT, please let me know.

*

Units types included:

time,
volume,
area,
length,
dimensionless,
linear spatial frequency,
area spatial frequency,
volume spatial frequency,
flow,
area per second,
velocity,
frequency,
specific energy,
acceleration,
frequency squared,
moment of inertia,
kilogram-meters,
mass,
linear mass density,
areal  mass density,
mass density,
angular momentum,
momentum,
mass flow,
viscosity,
energy,
force,
surface tension,
pressure,
power,
heat flow density,
magnetic field strength,
current,
electrical dipole moment,
moment of inertia per coulomb,
mass per charge,
magnetic flux,
vector potential,
magnetic flux density,
electric potential,
electric field strength,
inductance,
permeability,
electric resistivity,
electric resistance,
inverse permittivity,
inverse capacitance,
electric  current  density,
magnetic field strength,
electrical dipole moment,
magnetic moment,
charge,
linear charge density,
surface charge density,
electric charge density,
temperature,
thermal resistance,
thermal resistivity,
thermal insulance,
thermal inductance ,
entropy,
heat capacity,
enthalpy,
specific heat capacity,
molar heat capacity,
thermal capacitance,
entropy flow,
thermal conductivity