Documentation of PhysicalQuantities - C++ Classes

to Handle Physical Quantities

Author:

Bernd Speiser

Introduction

A physical quantity is a quantity used in a physical, chemical, or physico-chemical context. Many physical quantities are defined in the Système International d'Unités (SI) [Cohen/Cvitas/etal_2007], [BIPM].

The physical quantities defined in PhysicalQuantities can be used to write physico-chemical formulae in a computer program in a way most natural to scientists: as symbols of quantities connected by mathematical operators. Thus, PhysicalQuantities provides C++ code to use (a partial set of) the SI defined or related quantities. The main concepts and implementation details are discussed elsewhere.

Here is a list of the physical quantities available in the present version:

• Acceleration
• AmountOfSubstance
• Area
• CelsiusTemperature
• Concentration
• DiffusionCoefficient
• ElectricCharge
• ElectricCurrent
• ElectricPotential
• Energy
• FahrenheitTemperature
• FirstOrderRateConstant
• Force
• Fraction
• Frequency
• HeterogeneousRateConstant
• LangmuirAdsorptionRateConstant
• LangmuirEquilibriumConstant
• Length
• LuminousIntensity
• Mass
• PlaneAngle
• PureNumber
• SurfaceConcentration
• ThermodynamicTemperature
• Time
• VoltageScanRate
• Volume

In addition, the following fundamental physical (``natural'') constants are provided:

• AvogadroConstant
• ElementaryCharge
• FaradayConstant
• GasConstant
• ZeroOfCelsiusScale

See the respective pages for detailed information on the particular physical quantities. General implementation features are discussed on the implementation page.

The use of PhysicalQuantities is documented in various test programs (see directory PhysicalQuantities/test).

Concepts

Implementation

Please contact the author of the program at bernd.speiser@uni-tuebingen.de if you have specific questions about the software. Also, let us know if you use Quantities in your projects and work. We are interested in your experience with this software.

References

[Cohen/Cvitas/etal_2007] E.R. Cohen, T. Cvitas, J.G. Frey, B. Holmström, K. Kuchitsu, R. Marquardt, I. Mills, F. Pavese, M. Quack, J. Stohner, H.L. Strauss, M. Takami, and A.J. Thor, Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, 3rd ed., Blackwell Science, Oxford, 2007.

[BIPM] http://www1.bipm.org/en/si/ (web-site of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures).

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