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APPENDIX

B
Metric Conversion Guide
for the Roofer

531

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532

APPENDIX B

Property

To convert from

Symbol

Application rate

U.S. gallon per square

gal (U.S.)/100 ft2

U.K. gallon per square

gal (U.K.)/100 ft2

Area

square inch
square foot
square

in.2
ft2
100 ft2

Breaking strength

pound force per inch width

lbf/in.

Coverage

square foot per U.S. gallon

ft2/gal

square foot per U.K. gallon

ft2/gal

Density, or mass
per unit volume

pound per cubic foot

lb/ft3

Energy or work

kilowatt-hour
British thermal unit

kWh
Btu

Flow, or volume
per unit time

U.S. gallon per minute

gpm

U.K. gallon per minute

gpm

Force

pound force
kilogram force

lbf
kgf

Heat flow

thermal conductance, C

Btu/hft2F

thermal conductivity, k

Btuin./hft2F

Incline

inch per foot

in./ft

Length, width,
thickness

mil
inch (up to 48 in.)
foot (4 ft and above)

0.001 in.
in.
ft

*Exact conversion factor.

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METRIC CONVERSION GUIDE FOR THE ROOFER

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Multiply by

Remarks

L/m

0.4075

 0.4075 mm thick

L/m2

0.4893

 0.4893 mm thick

square millimeter
square meter
square meter

mm2
m2
m2

645.2
0.09290
9.290

1,000,000 mm2  1 m2

kilonewton per
meter width

kN/m

0.175

square meter
per liter
square meter
per liter

m2/L

0.02454

m2/L

0.02044

kilogram per
cubic meter

kg/m3

16.02

water  1000 kg/m3

megajoule
joule

MJ
J

3.600*
1055

J  Ws  Nm

cubic centimeter
per second
cubic centimeter
per second

cm3/s

63.09

or 0.0631 L/s

cm3/s

75.77

or 0.0758 L/s

newton
newton

N
N

4.4448
9.807

N  kgm/s2

watt per square

meter kelvin
watt per meter
kelvin

W/m2K

5.678

W/mK

0.1442

percent

8.333

3 in./ft  25%

micrometer
millimeter
meter

m
mm
m

25.40*
25.40*
0.3048*

1000 m  1 mm
1000 mm  1 m

liter per square

meter
liter per square
meter

Symbol

533

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APPENDIX B

Property

To convert from

Symbol

Mass (weight)

ounce
pound
short ton

oz
lb
2000 lb

Mass per unit area

pound per square foot

lb/ft2

pound per square foot

lb/ft2

pound per square foot

lb/1000 ft2

ounce per square yard

oz/yd2

Permeability at 23C

perm inch

grainin./ft2hin. Hg

Permeance at
23C

perm

grain/ft2hin. Hg

Power

horsepower

hp

Pressure or stress

pound force per square inch

pound force per square foot

lbf/in.2 or psi
lbf/ft2 or psf

Temperature

degree Fahrenheit
degree Celsius

F
C

Thread count (fabric)

threads per inch width

threads/in.

Velocity (speed)

foot per minute

mile per hour

ft/min or fpm
m/h or mph

Volume

U.S. gallon

gal (U.S.)

U.K. gallon

gal (U.K.)

cubic foot
cubic yard

ft3
yd3

*Exact conversion factor.

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METRIC CONVERSION GUIDE FOR THE ROOFER

535

to

Symbol

Multiply by

Remarks

gram
kilogram
megagram

g
kg
Mg

28.35
0.4536
0.9072

1000 g  1 kg
1000 kg  1 Mg

kilogram per
square meter
gram per square
meter
gram per square
meter
gram per square
meter

kg/m2

4.882

g/m2

4882

g/m2

48.82

g/m2

33.91

nanogram/pascal
second square
meter

ng/Pasm2

1.459

ng  1012 kg

nanogram/pascal
second meter

ng/Pasm

57.45

1 grain  64 mg

watt

746

W  Nm/s  J/s

kilopascal
pascal

kPa
Pa

6.895
47.88

Pa  N/m2

degree Celsius
kelvin

C
K

(tF  32)/1.8*
tC  273.15*

32F  0C
273.15 K  0C

threads per
centimeter width

threads/cm

0.394

meter per second

kilometer per hour

m/s
km/h

0.005080*
1.609

cubic meter
or 3.785 L
cubic meter
or 4.546 L
cubic meter
cubic meter

m3

0.003785

m3

0.004546

m3
m3

0.02832
0.7646