| Area (m2, ft2) |
| Acceleration (m/s2, ft/s2) |
| Local speed of sound (m/s, ft/s) |
| Concentration (mass/volume, moles/volume) |
| Drag coefficient, defined different ways (dimensionless) |
, | Heat capacity at constant pressure, volume (J/kg-K, Btu/lbm- °F) |
| Diameter; dpDp, particle diameter (m, ft) |
| Hydraulic diameter (m, ft) |
| Mass diffusion coefficient (m2/s, ft2/s) |
| Total energy, activation energy (J, kJ, cal, Btu) |
| Mixture fraction (dimensionless) |
| Force vector (N, lbf) |
| Drag force (N, lbf) |
| Gravitational acceleration (m/s2, ft/s2); standard values = 9.80665 m/s2, 32.1740 ft/s2 |
Gr | Grashof number ratio of buoyancy forces to viscous forces (dimensionless) |
| Total enthalpy (energy/mass, energy/mole) |
| Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2-K, Btu/ft2-h- °F) |
| Species enthalpy; h0, standard state enthalpy of formation (energy/mass, energy/mole) |
| Radiation intensity (energy per area of emitting surface per unit solid angle) |
| Mass flux; diffusion flux (kg/m 2-s, lbm/ft2-s) |
| Equilibrium constant = forward rate constant/backward rate constant (units vary) |
| Kinetic energy per unit mass (J/kg, Btu/lb m) |
| Reaction rate constant, for example, , , , (units vary) |
| Thermal conductivity (W/m-K, Btu/ft-h- °F) |
| Boltzmann constant ( J/molecule-K) |
, | Mass transfer coefficient (units vary); also , |
| Length scale (m, cm, ft, in) |
Le | Lewis number ratio of thermal diffusivity to mass diffusivity (dimensionless) |
| Mass (g, kg, lbm) |
| Mass flow rate (kg/s, lbms) |
| Molecular weight (kg/kmol, lbm/lbmmol) |
M | Mach number ratio of fluid velocity magnitude to local speed of sound (dimensionless) |
Nu | Nusselt number dimensionless heat transfer or mass transfer coefficient (dimensionless); usually a function of other dimensionless groups |
| Pressure (Pa, atm, mm Hg, lbf/ft2) |
Pe | Peclet number for heat transfer, and for mass transfer (dimensionless) |
Pr | Prandtl number ratio of momentum diffusivity to thermal diffusivity (dimensionless) |
| Flow rate of enthalpy (W, Btu/h) |
| Heat flux (W/m2, Btu/ft2-h) |
| Gas-law constant (8.31447 J/kmol-K, 1.98588 Btu/lbmmol- °F) |
| Radius (m, ft) |
| Reaction rate (units vary) |
Ra | Rayleigh number ; measure of the strength of buoyancy-induced flow in natural (free) convection (dimensionless) |
Re | Reynolds number ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces (dimensionless) |
| Total entropy (J/K, J/kmol-K, Btu/lbmmol- °F) |
| Species entropy; s0, standard state entropy (J/kmol-K, Btu/lbmmol- °F) |
Sc | Schmidt number ratio of momentum diffusivity to mass diffusivity (dimensionless) |
| Mean rate-of-strain tensor (s-1) |
| Temperature (K, °C, °R, °F) |
| Time (s) |
| Free-stream velocity (m/s, ft/s) |
| Velocity magnitude (m/s, ft/s); also written with directional subscripts (for example, vx, vy, vz, vr) |
| Volume (m3, ft3) |
| Overall velocity vector (m/s, ft/s) |
We | Weber number ratio of aerodynamic forces to surface tension forces (dimensionless) |
| Mole fraction (dimensionless) |
| Mass fraction (dimensionless) |
| Permeability, or flux per unit pressure difference (L/m2-h-atm, ft /ft2-h-(lbf/ft2)) |
| Thermal diffusivity (m2/s, ft2/s) |
| Volume fraction (dimensionless) |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion (K ) |
| Porosity (dimensionless) |
| Ratio of specific heats, cp/cv (dimensionless) |
| Change in variable, final initial (for example, Δp, Δt, ΔH, ΔS, ΔT) |
| Delta function (units vary) |
| Emissivity (dimensionless) |
| Lennard-Jones energy parameter (J/molecule) |
| Turbulent dissipation rate (m2/s3, ft2/s3) |
| Void fraction (dimensionless) |
| Effectiveness factor (dimensionless) |
, | Rate exponents for reactants, products (dimensionless) |
| Radiation temperature (K) |
| Molecular mean free path (m, nm, ft) |
| Wavelength (m, nm, Å, ft) |
| Dynamic viscosity (cP, Pa-s, lbm/ft-s) |
| Kinematic viscosity (m2/s, ft2/s) |
, | Stoichiometric coefficients for reactants, products (dimensionless) |
| Density (kg/m3, lbm/ft3) |
| Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67x10-8 W/m2-K4) |
| Surface tension (kg/m, dyn/cm, lbf/ft) |
| Scattering coefficient (m-1) |
| Stress tensor (Pa, lbf/ft2) |
| Shear stress (Pa, lbf/ft2) |
| Time scale, for example, , , (s) |
| Tortuosity, characteristic of pore structure (dimensionless) |
| Equivalence ratio (dimensionless) |
| Thiele modulus (dimensionless) |
| Angular velocity; , Mean rate of rotation tensor (s-1) |
| Specific dissipation rate (s-1) |
| Solid angle (degrees, radians, gradians) |
| Diffusion collision integral (dimensionless) |