Are these equal? (Look at the units)

Question

3.8×10^4 N·m^-2 = 3.8×8 N·s/cm^-2

Are these equal? (Look at the units) I'm trying to reconcile the units in my head but am having trouble.

Answer 1

Hi Kayla,

No these values are not equal to each other, both numerically and in terms of units. To confirm the former, that these two value are different numerically, do unit conversion to get them to have as many of the same units as possible. In this case both can be put into terms of N/m², even though the second value will still have seconds.

ie,

1. Value 1: 3.8 • 10⁴ N/m²
2. Value 2: (3.8 • 10⁸ Ns/cm² ) • (1 cm² / .0001 m²) = 3.8 • 10¹² Ns / m²

Hope this helps,

Best,

Ethan S.