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This is a list of well-known dimensionless quantities illustrating their variety of forms and applications. The tables also include pure numbers, dimensionless ratios, or dimensionless physical constants; these topics are discussed in the article.
For example, if "x" represented mass, the letter "m" might be an appropriate symbol to represent the dimensionless mass quantity. In this article, the following conventions have been used: t – represents the independent variable – usually a time quantity.
Dimensionless quantities, or quantities of dimension one, [1] are quantities implicitly defined in a manner that prevents their aggregation into units of measurement. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Typically expressed as ratios that align with another system, these quantities do not necessitate explicitly defined units .
Dimensionless numbers (or characteristic numbers) have an important role in analyzing the behavior of fluids and their flow as well as in other transport phenomena. [1] They include the Reynolds and the Mach numbers, which describe as ratios the relative magnitude of fluid and physical system characteristics, such as density, viscosity, speed of sound, and flow speed.
In fluid dynamics, the Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless quantity that helps predict fluid flow patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between inertial and viscous forces. [2] At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be dominated by laminar (sheet-like) flow, while at high Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be turbulent. [3]
Effectiveness is a dimensionless quantity between 0 and 1. If we know ϵ {\displaystyle \epsilon } for a particular heat exchanger, and we know the inlet conditions of the two flow streams we can calculate the amount of heat being transferred between the fluids by:
In continuum mechanics, the Péclet number (Pe, after Jean Claude Eugène Péclet) is a class of dimensionless numbers relevant in the study of transport phenomena in a continuum. It is defined to be the ratio of the rate of advection of a physical quantity by the flow to the rate of diffusion of the same quantity driven by an appropriate gradient.
If more than one formula is applicable in the flow regime under consideration, the choice of formula may be influenced by one or more of the following: Required accuracy; Speed of computation required; Available computational technology: calculator (minimize keystrokes) spreadsheet (single-cell formula) programming/scripting language (subroutine).