Formulas & Conversion Factors
formulas.htm-72

© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer


1. Torque:
    Nm x 0.7376 = ftlbs
    ftlbs x 1.356 = Nm
    Mkp x 7.23 = ftlbs
    inch-ounces = 141.6 x Nm 
    Mkp x 9.81 = Nm
2. cubic inches x 16.39 = cc
    liters x 61.02 = cubic inches
    cubic inches ÷ 231 = gallons
    Imperial gallon x 1.2 = U.S. gallon
    mpg x 0.354 = km/l
    km/l x 2.825 = mpg
3. psi x 27.68 = inches of water
    inches of water x 1.868 = mm of mercury
    Kpa x 0.145 = psi
    bars x 14.5 = psi
4. Km x .621 = miles
    one Km is approximately 5/8th of a mile.
5. (F°-32) x .56 = C°
    (C° x 1.8) + 32 = F°
6.
7. Electricity:
    resistance in ohms = (voltage ÷ by amperes)
    The symbol for ohms is the Greek omega
    power in watts = amperes x voltage.
    7 46 watts = one horsepower.
    From the above, you can find any unknown.
8. You can generally interchange the following wrench sizes:
    11 mm and 7/16 inch
    13 mm and 1/2 inch
    16 mm and 5/8 inch
    19 mm and 3/4 inch
    27 mm and 1-1/16 inch
9. velocity in mph x 1.467 = feet per second
    kph x 0.621 = mph
10. (horsepower x 5252) ÷ by rpm = torque in ftlbs.
11. MPH = (rpm x rolling radius of the driven tire in inches) ÷
      by (168 x the overall gear ratio)
12. Gasoline weighs 6 pounds per U.S. gallon.
      Oil weighs 7.5 pounds per U.S. gallon
      Kerosene weighs 6.7 pounds per U.S. gallon
      Water weighs 8.4 pounds per U.S. gallon
***NOTE: The U.S. gallon is 3.785 liters; but the IMPERIAL gallon is 4.546 liters. In both systems 4 quarts are a gallon, but the quarts are different sized! For those of you into beer barrels, the British one  is 36 gallons, the U.S. one is 31.5 gallons.
13.  Bullshit is seldom given any weight
14. 1 mm = 0.03937 inches
      1 inch = 25.4 mm
       miles x 1.609 = km
       km x 0.62 = miles
15. Gas velocity through a port in ft/sec = (piston speed in ft/min ÷ by 60)  x  (diameter of piston squared ÷ by the port diameter squared).
16. Mean gas velocity through the valve in ft/sec = (piston speed divided by 60) x [diameter of piston squared], ÷ by (the valve diameter at throat x lift of valve x pi)
17. The formulas to calculate gas flow, resonance, reversion, intake and exhaust diameters and flow and reversion are available from me.
18. Modern internal combustion engines produce APPROXIMATELY 2 horsepower-hours per pound of fuel consumed. If one uses fuel weighing 5.6 pounds per gallon, then you can expect 11.2 horsepower-hours per gallon, which is 8355 watt-hours.
19.  TACH, MPH, RPM, AND SPEED:
       Measure the radius of the tire, bike on tires, not stands, you and passenger seated on bike, bike pointed straight ahead, and balanced straight up, buddy measuring the CENTER of axle to the floor, multiplied by 2, multiplied by pi, will give the circumference,
       close enough to the actual in-use number.  The formula for determining the relationships, suitably simplified is as follows:

            Let T = the tach reading
            Let M = miles per hour
            Let C = circumference in INCHES
            Let S = small number in the rear end teeth ratio
            Let L = large number in the rear end teeth ratio

            Example: you have 37/11 gears (which is 3.36:1 btw). S = 11; and L = 37

            THEN, multiply the following: (T)(C)(S)

            Divide that result by (1584)(L)

            The result is M

            Rearrange this formula to find any of the values, like you learned in jr. high school in beginning algebra. 

            Practical example:
            Most early BMW's came with a 4.00 x 18 rear tire. That tire is likely, even if you have an oversize 120-90 x 18, to measure about 80 inches in circumference.

            The formula will show that for a 70 mph speed, the tach should be reading 4667 rpm.

20.  PISTON TRAVEL VERSUS CRANKSHAFT ROTATION IN DEGREES;  This simplified information is normally used for 2 stroke engine timing purposes, but has some uses on airheads.
        When measuring the piston movement per degree of  crankshaft rotation, the distance the piston moves is a cosine function. Take the manufacturer's published stroke distance, multiply by the cosine of the number of degrees, to equal the
        piston stroke distance. You can use your calculator, or a table of cosine function. It is easy to transform the results into markings on the flywheel.
            I previously published the actually more complex trigonometry and confused the heck out of folks.  So, here are some places to get that information, by simply plugging information into a table; which will then do the
            calculating for you. 
http://www.dansmc.com/mc_software2.htm
 

21.  Oil viscosity is often given in cST  or  SUS....and seldom are both given for the same product.  Here is how to convert one to the other:

        IF SUS is between 32 and 100:     cST = 0.226 x SUS - 195/SUS

        IF SUS is over 100:                      cST = 0.220 x SUS - 135/SUS

        For very considerably more on oil, see my oil articles, and regarding viscosities of particular oils, see my viscosity.htm article.


Revisions:
04/11/2003:  add .htm title; edit a few places for clarity and renumber some items/splitting them first.
04/29/2003:  expand #2; remove note in blue at top; clarify minor details throughout
05/07/2003:  add #19
09/27/2003:  add a few conversions
12/23/2006:  add #20 
12/24/2006:  add #21
01/27/2008:  merge #6 into #20, and edit same
04/26/2010:  remove a link
05/31/2022:  clean up

© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer

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