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1-Visitor
October 23, 2015
Question

Mathcad prime 3.1 units problem

  • October 23, 2015
  • 8 replies
  • 5946 views

Hi, Today i started working in  mathcad prime 3.1 and i have got serious problem with units. Namely i calculate a value and i wanted to add a unit lm/W  -  for example Fi:=.....=145 lm/W and it showed me Fi:= ....= 145 (kg *m^2)/s^3*cd * lm/W but i would like to see only lm/W unit. Is that possible?

8 replies

23-Emerald V
October 23, 2015

Rafał Maciukiewicz wrote:

Hi, Today i started working in  mathcad prime 3.1 and i have got serious problem with units. Namely i calculate a value and i wanted to add a unit lm/W  -  for example Fi:=.....=145 lm/W and it showed me Fi:= ....= 145 (kg *m^2)/s^3*cd * lm/W but i would like to see only lm/W unit. Is that possible?

Yes.

There may be a better way, but this works.

Stuart

23-Emerald V
October 23, 2015

StuartBruff wrote:

Rafał Maciukiewicz wrote:

Hi, Today i started working in  mathcad prime 3.1 and i have got serious problem with units. Namely i calculate a value and i wanted to add a unit lm/W  -  for example Fi:=.....=145 lm/W and it showed me Fi:= ....= 145 (kg *m^2)/s^3*cd * lm/W but i would like to see only lm/W unit. Is that possible?

Yes.

evaluate .. delete units ... type in new units

There may be a better way, but this works.

Stuart

In fact, from Help, it looks like that's the official way (I don't generally use units and don't like to clutter my brain with stuff I'll only use once or twice ... like brain cells .. so I generally just do what looks like it might work)

To Convert Units

  1. Click to the right of the units to convert. The cursor appears.
  2. Press Backspace until all the units disappear. In math regions, the result turns gray.
  3. Insert the new units. When you type the units, their names are automatically labeled as units.
  4. Press Enter. The units are balanced if needed and the result is recalculated.
Additional Information

  • To recover the default units, delete all the units in the unit placeholder and press Enter.
  • When you evaluate an array whose elements have incompatible units, the elements are displayed with their own units in base units and you cannot convert these units.

Stuart

1-Visitor
October 23, 2015

It didnt work. Weirde thing is that the unit hasnt change and it looks like that:

Bez tytułu1.jpg

1-Visitor
October 23, 2015

In case it's unclear from Stuart's response, note that your equation for fi (the part you've shown as "...") evidently excludes units.  Thus, your result is unitless.  When you tried to add units to the result, it showed your desired units multiplied by the inverse of your desired units.

Instead of adding (or, rather, multiplying by) units in the result, you must do it in the definition/equation.

23-Emerald V
October 23, 2015

Mark Gase wrote:

In case it's unclear from Stuart's response, note that your equation for fi (the part you've shown as "...") evidently excludes units.  Thus, your result is unitless.  When you tried to add units to the result, it showed your desired units multiplied by the inverse of your desired units.

Instead of adding (or, rather, multiplying by) units in the result, you must do it in the definition/equation.

Good spot, Mark.  I'd erroneously assumed that was just a typo  ...

Stuart

1-Visitor
October 23, 2015

Ok thx guys for  your help now I've got this. I just need to define all variable with units at first.

1-Visitor
October 23, 2015

Yes.  In your screenshots above, the numbers 45 & 56 need to be multiplied by their appropriate units.  Mathcad then handles unit conversions.

As a more simplified example, you enter the following:

L := 1*m + 20mm = 1.02m

Alternatively, it's often more clear to define more variables:

L1 := 1*m

L2 := 20*mm

L := L1 + L2 = 1.02m