Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T14:53:29.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Hidden strengths of dimensional analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

P. P. Ong*
Affiliation:
Physics Department, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, Singapore 0511

Extract

Perhaps the most extensive use of dimensional analysis in applied mathematics is in the application of the principle of similitude to obtain equivalence between different physical systems of unequal scales occurring in widely different branches of science and engineering. However, there is a widespread misconception that dimensional analysis can only yield the functional dependence of a physical quantity on various other parameters. In this article I shall therefore demonstrate some hidden strengths of dimensional analysis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)