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Quantity Calculus
Quantity calculus is the formal method for describing the mathematical relations between ''abstract'' physical quantities. (Here the term ''calculus'' should be understood in its broader sense of "a system of computation", rather than in the sense of differential calculus and integral calculus.) Its roots can be traced to Fourier's concept of dimensional analysis (1822). The basic axiom of quantity calculus is Maxwell's description of a physical quantity as the product of a "numerical value" and a "reference quantity" (i.e. a "unit quantity" or a "unit of measurement"). De Boer summarized the multiplication, division, addition, association and commutation rules of quantity calculus and proposed that a full axiomatization has yet to be completed. Such axiomatization needs to begin from a definition of ''quantity'' in terms of ''physical dimension'' (see dimensional analysis) which is indeed a more fundamental concept than of ''unit'' or ''unit quantity'' or ''unit of measurement''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physical Quantity
A physical quantity is a physical property of a material or system that can be quantified by measurement. A physical quantity can be expressed as a ''value'', which is the algebraic multiplication of a ' Numerical value ' and a ' Unit '. For example, the physical quantity of mass can be quantified as '32.3 kg ', where '32.3' is the numerical value and 'kg' is the Unit. A physical quantity possesses at least two characteristics in common. # Numerical magnitude. # Units Symbols and nomenclature International recommendations for the use of symbols for quantities are set out in ISO/IEC 80000, the IUPAP red book and the IUPAC green book. For example, the recommended symbol for the physical quantity ''mass'' is ''m'', and the recommended symbol for the quantity ''electric charge'' is ''Q''. Subscripts and indices Subscripts are used for two reasons, to simply attach a name to the quantity or associate it with another quantity, or index a specific component (e.g., row or colum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |