Package com.imsl.math

Class Physical

java.lang.Object
java.lang.Number
com.imsl.math.Physical
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, Cloneable
public class Physical extends Number implements Serializable, Cloneable
Return the value of various mathematical and physical constants. The case of the String specifying the name of the physical constant does not matter. The names 'PI', 'Pi', 'pI' and 'pi' are equivalent. The units of the physical constants are in SI units, (meter-kilogram-second). The names allowed are as follows:

NameDescriptionValueReference
AMU Atomic mass unit 1.6605402E-27 kg [1]
ATM Standard atm pressure 1.01325E+5 \(\rm {N / m^2}\) E[2]
AU Astronomical unit 1.496E+11 m [ ]
Avogadro Avogadro's number 6.0221367E+23 1/mole [1]
Boltzman Boltzman's constant 1.380658E-23 J/K [1]
C Speed of light 2.997924580E+8 m/s E[1]
Catalan Catalan's constant 0.915965... E[3]
E Base of natural logs 2.718... E[3]
ElectronCharge Electron change 1.60217733E-19 C [1]
ElectronMass Electron mass 9.1093897E-31 kg [1]
ElectronVolt Electron volt 1.60217733E-19 J [1]
Euler Euler's constant gamma 0.577... E[3]
Faraday Faraday constant 9.6485309E+4 C/mole [1]
FineStructure Fine structure 7.29735308E-3 [1]
Gamma Euler's constant 0.577... E[3]
Gas Gas constant 8.314510 J/mole/K [1]
Gravity Gravitational constant 6.67259E-11 \(\rm {Nm^2/{\rm {kg}}^2}\)[1]
Hbar Planck constant / 2 pi 1.05457266E-34 J*s [1]
PerfectGasVolume Std vol ideal gas 2.241383E-2 \(\rm {m^3/ {\rm {mole}}}\) [*]
Pi Pi 3.141... E[3]
Planck Planck's constant h 6.6260755E-34 J*s [1]
ProtonMass Proton mass 1.6726231E-27 kg [1]
Rydberg Rydberg's constant 1.0973731534E+7 /m [1]
SpeedLight Speed of light 2.997924580E+8 m/s E[1]
StandardGravity Standard g 9.80665 \(\rm {m/s^2}\) E[2]
StandardPressure Standard atm pressure 1.01325E+5 \(\rm {N/m^2}\) E[2]
StefanBoltzmann Stefan-Boltzman 5.67051E-8 \(\rm {W/K^4/m^2}\) [1]
WaterTriple Triple point of water 2.7316E+2 K E[2]

The reference for constants are indicated by the code in the [] comment above.

[1]Cohen and Taylor (1986)
[2]Liepman (1964)
[3]Precomputed mathematical constants

The constants marked with an E before the [] are exact (to machine precision).

  1. Units strings have the form U1*U2*...*Um/V1/.../Vn, where Ui and Vi are the names of basic units or are the names of basic units raised to a power. Examples are, 'METER*KILOGRAM/SECOND', 'M*KG/S', 'METER', or '\(\rm {M/KG^2}\)'. These strings are case insensitive.
  2. The basic unit names allowed are as follows.

    Units of time
    day, hour = hr, min = minute, s = sec = second, year

    Units of frequency
    Hertz = Hz

    Units of mass
    AMU, g = gram, lb = pound, ounce = oz, slug

    Units of distance
    Angstrom, AU, ft = feet = foot, in = inch, m = meter = metre, micron, mile, mill, parsec, yard

    Units of area
    acre

    Units of volume
    l = liter = litre

    Units of force
    dyne, N = Newton, poundal

    Units of energy
    BTU(thermochemical), Erg, J = Joule

    Units of work
    W = watt

    Units of pressure
    ATM = atomosphere, bar, Pascal

    Units of temperature
    degC = Celsius, degF = Fahrenheit, degK = Kelvin

    Units of viscosity
    poise, stoke

    Units of charge
    Abcoulomb, C = Coulomb, statcoulomb

    Units of current
    A = ampere, abampere, statampere

    Units of voltage
    Abvolt, V = volt

    Units of magnetic induction
    T = Tesla, Wb = Weber

    Other units
    1, farad, mole, Gauss, Henry, Maxwell, Ohm

    The following metric prefixes may be used with the above units. Note that the one or two letter prefixes may only be used with one letter unit abbreviations.

    A = atto = 1.E-18
    F = femto = 1.E-15
    P = pico = 1.E-12
    N = nano = 1.E-9
    U = micro = 1.E-6
    M = milli = 1.E-3
    C = centi = 1.E-2
    D = deci = 1.E-1
    DK = deca = 1.E+1
    K = kilo = 1.E+3
    myria = 1.E+4 (no single letter prefix; M means milli)
    mega = 1.E+6 (no single letter prefix; M means milli)
    G = giga = 1.E+9
    T = tera = 1.E+12

See Also:

  • Field Details

  • Constructor Details

    • Physical

      public Physical()
      Constructs a new 0-valued, dimensionless object.

    • Physical

      public Physical(Physical copy)
      Constructs a copy of a Physical object.
      Parameters:
      copy - Physical object from which a copy is made

    • Physical

      public Physical(double value, String units)
      Constructs a new Physical object and initializes this object to a double value.
      Parameters:
      value - double value to which the copy of the object is initialized
      units - String specifying the unit

    • Physical

      public Physical(double value, int length, int mass, int time, int current, int temperature)
      Constructs a new Physical object and initializes this object to a double value along with int values for length, mass, time, current, and temperature.
      Parameters:
      value - double value to which this object is initialized
      length - int value assigned to this object's length
      mass - int value assigned to this object's mass
      time - int value assigned to this object's time
      current - int value assigned to this object's current
      temperature - int value assigned to this object's temperature

  • Method Details

    • negate

      public static Physical negate(Physical x)
      Negate a Physical object.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is to be negated
      Returns:
      Physical object which has been negated

    • add

      public static Physical add(Physical x, Physical y)
      Add two compatible Physical objects.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is to be added
      y - Physical object which is to be added
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the sum of x + y
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if x and y are not compatible

    • subtract

      public static Physical subtract(Physical x, Physical y)
      Subtract two compatible Physical objects.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object
      y - Physical object which is to be subtracted from x
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the result of x - y
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if x and y are not compatible

    • multiply

      public static Physical multiply(Physical x, Physical y)
      Multiply two Physical objects.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is to be multiplied
      y - Physical object which is to be multiplied
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the product of x and y

    • multiply

      public static Physical multiply(Physical x, double y)
      Multiply a Physical object and a double
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is to be multiplied
      y - double which is to be multiplied
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the product of x and y

    • multiply

      public static Physical multiply(double x, Physical y)
      Multiply a double and a Physical object
      Parameters:
      x - double which is to be multiplied
      y - Physical object which is to be multiplied
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the product of x and y

    • divide

      public static Physical divide(Physical x, Physical y)
      Divide two Physical objects.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is the numerator
      y - Physical object which is the divisor
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the result of x/y

    • divide

      public static Physical divide(Physical x, double y)
      Divide a Physical object by a double.
      Parameters:
      x - Physical object which is the numerator
      y - double object which is the divisor
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the result of x/y

    • divide

      public static Physical divide(double x, Physical y)
      Divide a double by a Physical object.
      Parameters:
      x - double which is the numerator
      y - Physical object which is the divisor
      Returns:
      Physical object which is the result of x/y

    • intValue

      public int intValue()
      Returns the value of this dimensionless object.
      Specified by:
      intValue in class Number
      Returns:
      the int value of the dimensionless object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the this object is not dimensionless

    • longValue

      public long longValue()
      Returns the value of this dimensionless object.
      Specified by:
      longValue in class Number
      Returns:
      the long value of the dimensionless object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the this object is not dimensionless

    • floatValue

      public float floatValue()
      Returns the value of this dimensionless object.
      Specified by:
      floatValue in class Number
      Returns:
      the float value of the dimensionless object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the this object is not dimensionless

    • doubleValue

      public double doubleValue()
      Returns the value of this dimensionless object.
      Specified by:
      doubleValue in class Number
      Returns:
      the double value of the dimensionless object
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the this object is not dimensionless

    • constant

      public static Physical constant(String name)
      Returns the value of a constant, given its name.
      Parameters:
      name - is a String representing the name of the constant to be returned
      Returns:
      the Physical object containing the value of the constant, in its default units
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown when the name given is undefined

    • constant

      public static double constant(String name, String units)
      Returns the value of a constant, given its name, in the specified units.
      Parameters:
      name - is a String representing the name of the constant to be returned.
      units - is a String representing the units in which the constant is to be returned.
      Returns:
      a double containing the value of the constant in the specified units
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the constant name is undefined

    • defineConstant

      public static void defineConstant(String name, Physical value)
      Defines a new constant.
      Parameters:
      name - a String specifying the name of the constant to be defined
      value - a Physical object defining the value of the new constant

    • defineUnit

      public static void defineUnit(String name, Physical value)
      Defines a new unit.
      Parameters:
      name - a String specifying the name of the unit to be defined
      value - a Physical object defining the value of one unit in terms of SI units

    • definePrefix

      public static void definePrefix(String name, double value)
      Defines a new prefix.
      Parameters:
      name - a String specifying the name of the prefix to be defined
      value - is the double value of the prefix

    • convert

      public static Physical convert(Physical pOld, String unitsNew)
      Converts a value to a different set of units.
      Parameters:
      pOld - a Physical object specifying the value to be converted
      unitsNew - a String specifying the units to which pOld is to be converted
      Returns:
      a Physical object containing the value of pOld converted to the new units
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the new and old units are incompatible

    • checkCompatibility

      public static void checkCompatibility(Physical x, Physical y)
      Checks the compatibility of two Physical objects.
      Parameters:
      x - a Physical object
      y - a Physical object to be checked against x
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - is thrown if the two Physical objects are incompatible

    • toString

      public String toString()
      Returns a String containing the value and units, if any.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a String specifying the value and units, if any, of this Physical object

    • unitsString

      public String unitsString()
      Returns a String containing the units only.
      Returns:
      a String specifying the units of this Physical object