Module rgsl::physical_constant

Physical Constants

This chapter describes macros for the values of physical constants, such as the speed of light, c, and gravitational constant, G. The values are available in different unit systems, including the standard MKSA system (meters, kilograms, seconds, amperes) and the CGSM system (centimeters, grams, seconds, gauss), which is commonly used in Astronomy.

References and Further Reading

The authoritative sources for physical constants are the 2006 CODATA recommended values, published in the article below. Further information on the values of physical constants is also available from the NIST website.

P.J. Mohr, B.N. Taylor, D.B. Newell, “CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2006”, Reviews of Modern Physics, 80(2), pp. 633–730 (2008).

http://www.physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants/index.html http://physics.nist.gov/Pubs/SP811/appenB9.html !

Statics

• MKSA_ACRE
  The area of 1 acre. m^2
• MKSA_ANGSTROM
  The length of 1 angstrom. m
• MKSA_ASTRONOMICAL_UNIT
  The length of 1 astronomical unit (mean earth-sun distance), au. m
• MKSA_BAR
  The pressure of 1 bar. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_BARN
  The area of 1 barn. m^2
• MKSA_BOHR_MAGNETON
  The Bohr Magneton, \mu_B. A m^2
• MKSA_BOHR_RADIUS
  The Bohr radius, a_0. m
• MKSA_BOLTZMANN
  The Boltzmann constant, k. kg m^2 / K s^2
• MKSA_BTU
  The energy of 1 British Thermal Unit, btu. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_CALORIE
  The energy of 1 calorie. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_CANADIAN_GALLON
  The volume of 1 Canadian gallon. m^3
• MKSA_CARAT
  The mass of 1 carat. kg
• MKSA_CUP
  m^3
• MKSA_CURIE
  The activity of 1 curie. 1 / s
• MKSA_DAY
  The number of seconds in 1 day. s
• MKSA_DEBYE
  The electric dipole moment of 1 Debye, D. A s^2 / m^2
• MKSA_DYNE
  The force of 1 Dyne = 10^-5 Newton. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_ELECTRON_CHARGE
  The charge of the electron, e. A s
• MKSA_ELECTRON_MAGNETIC_MOMENT
  The absolute value of the magnetic moment of the electron, \mu_e. The physical magnetic moment of the electron is negative. A m^2
• MKSA_ELECTRON_VOLT
  The energy of 1 electron volt, eV. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_ERG
  The energy 1 erg = 10^-7 Joule. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_FARADAY
  The molar charge of 1 Faraday. A s / mol
• MKSA_FATHOM
  The length of 1 fathom. m
• MKSA_FOOT
  The length of 1 foot. m
• MKSA_FOOTCANDLE
  The illuminance of 1 footcandle. cd sr / m^2
• MKSA_FOOTLAMBERT
  The luminance of 1 footlambert. cd sr / m^2
• MKSA_GAUSS
  The magnetic field of 1 Gauss. kg / A s^2
• MKSA_GRAM_FORCE
  The force of 1 gram weight. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT
  The gravitational constant, G. m^3 / kg s^2
• MKSA_GRAV_ACCEL
  The standard gravitational acceleration on Earth, g. m / s^2
• MKSA_HECTARE
  The area of 1 hectare. m^2
• MKSA_HORSEPOWER
  The power of 1 horsepower. kg m^2 / s^3
• MKSA_HOUR
  The number of seconds in 1 hour. s
• MKSA_INCH
  The length of 1 inch. m
• MKSA_INCH_OF_MERCURY
  The pressure of 1 inch of mercury. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_INCH_OF_WATER
  The pressure of 1 inch of water. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_JOULE
  The SI unit of energy, 1 Joule. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_KILOMETERS_PER_HOUR
  The speed of 1 kilometer per hour. m / s
• MKSA_KILOPOUND_FORCE
  The force of 1 kilopound weight. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_KNOT
  The speed of 1 knot. m / s
• MKSA_LAMBERT
  The luminance of 1 lambert. cd sr / m^2
• MKSA_LIGHT_YEAR
  The distance of 1 light-year, ly. m
• MKSA_LITER
  The volume of 1 liter. m^3
• MKSA_LUMEN
  The luminous flux of 1 lumen. cd sr
• MKSA_LUX
  The illuminance of 1 lux. cd sr / m^2
• MKSA_MASS_ELECTRON
  The mass of the electron, m_e. kg
• MKSA_MASS_MUON
  The mass of the muon, m_\mu. kg
• MKSA_MASS_NEUTRON
  The mass of the neutron, m_n. kg
• MKSA_MASS_PROTON
  The mass of the proton, m_p. kg
• MKSA_METER_OF_MERCURY
  The pressure of 1 meter of mercury. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_METRIC_TON
  The mass of 1 metric ton (1000 kg). kg
• MKSA_MICRON
  The length of 1 micron. m
• MKSA_MIL
  The length of 1 mil (1/1000th of an inch). m
• MKSA_MILE
  The length of 1 mile. m
• MKSA_MILES_PER_HOUR
  The speed of 1 mile per hour. m / s
• MKSA_MINUTE
  The number of seconds in 1 minute. s
• MKSA_MOLAR_GAS
  The molar gas constant, R_0. kg m^2 / K mol s^2
• MKSA_NAUTICAL_MILE
  The length of 1 nautical mile. m
• MKSA_NEWTON
  The SI unit of force, 1 Newton. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_NUCLEAR_MAGNETON
  The Nuclear Magneton, \mu_N. A m^2
• MKSA_OUNCE_MASS
  The mass of 1 ounce. kg
• MKSA_PARSEC
  The distance of 1 parsec, pc. m
• MKSA_PHOT
  The illuminance of 1 phot. cd sr / m^2
• MKSA_PINT
  The volume of 1 pint. m^3
• MKSA_PLANCKS_CONSTANT_H
  Planck’s constant, h. kg m^2 / s
• MKSA_PLANCKS_CONSTANT_HBAR
  Planck’s constant divided by 2\pi, \hbar. kg m^2 / s
• MKSA_POINT
  The length of 1 printer’s point (1/72 inch). m
• MKSA_POISE
  The dynamic viscosity of 1 poise. kg m^-1 s^-1
• MKSA_POUNDAL
  The force of 1 poundal. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_POUND_FORCE
  The force of 1 pound weight. kg m / s^2
• MKSA_POUND_MASS
  The mass of 1 pound. kg
• MKSA_PROTON_MAGNETIC_MOMENT
  The magnetic moment of the proton, \mu_p. A m^2
• MKSA_PSI
  The pressure of 1 pound per square inch. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_QUART
  The volume of 1 quart. m^3
• MKSA_RAD
  The absorbed dose of 1 rad. m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_ROENTGEN
  The exposure of 1 roentgen. A s / kg
• MKSA_RYDBERG
  The Rydberg constant, Ry, in units of energy. This is related to the Rydberg inverse wavelength R_\infty by Ry = h c R_\infty. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_SOLAR_MASS
  The mass of the Sun. kg
• MKSA_SPEED_OF_LIGHT
  The speed of light in vacuum, c. m / s
• MKSA_STANDARD_GAS_VOLUME
  The standard gas volume, V_0. m^3 / mol
• MKSA_STD_ATMOSPHERE
  The pressure of 1 standard atmosphere. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_STEFAN_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT
  The Stefan-Boltzmann radiation constant, \sigma. kg / K^4 s^3
• MKSA_STILB
  The luminance of 1 stilb. cd / m^2
• MKSA_STOKES
  The kinematic viscosity of 1 stokes. m^2 / s
• MKSA_TEXPOINT
  The length of 1 TeX point (1/72.27 inch). m
• MKSA_THERM
  The energy of 1 Therm. kg m^2 / s^2
• MKSA_THOMSON_CROSS_SECTION
  The Thomson cross section, \sigma_T. m^2
• MKSA_TON
  The mass of 1 ton. kg
• MKSA_TORR
  The pressure of 1 torr. kg / m s^2
• MKSA_TROY_OUNCE
  The mass of 1 troy ounce. kg
• MKSA_UK_GALLON
  The volume of 1 UK gallon. m^3
• MKSA_UK_TON
  The mass of 1 UK ton. kg
• MKSA_UNIFIED_ATOMIC_MASS
  The unified atomic mass, amu. kg
• MKSA_US_GALLON
  The volume of 1 US gallon. m^3
• MKSA_VACUUM_PERMEABILITY
  The permeability of free space, \mu_0. This constant is defined in the MKSA system only. kg m / A^2 s^2
• MKSA_VACUUM_PERMITTIVITY
  The permittivity of free space, \epsilon_0. This constant is defined in the MKSA system only. A^2 s^4 / kg m^3
• MKSA_WEEK
  The number of seconds in 1 week. s
• MKSA_YARD
  The length of 1 yard. m
• NUM_ATTO
  10^-18
• NUM_AVOGADRO
  Avogadro’s number, N_a. 1 / mol
• NUM_EXA
  10^18
• NUM_FEMTO
  10^-15
• NUM_FINE_STRUCTURE
  The electromagnetic fine structure constant \alpha. 1
• NUM_GIGA
  10^9
• NUM_KILO
  10^3
• NUM_MEGA
  10^6
• NUM_MICRO
  10^-6
• NUM_MILLI
  10^-3
• NUM_NANO
  10^-9
• NUM_PETA
  10^15
• NUM_PICO
  10^-12
• NUM_TERA
  10^12
• NUM_YOCTO
  10^-24
• NUM_YOTTA
  10^24
• NUM_ZEPTO
  10^-21
• NUM_ZETTA
  10^21