Btu (IT) per Hour per Square Foot [Btu(IT)/(h·ft²)]

The unit Btu (IT) per hour per square foot, written as Btu(IT)/(h·ft²), measures heat flux density or thermal power per unit area using the International Table British Thermal Unit (1 Btu(IT) = 1055.06 J). It represents the amount of heat energy transferred through 1 square foot of surface every hour.

This unit is widely used in U.S. building construction, insulation, HVAC, and solar energy studies to quantify energy transfer through walls, roofs, or floors. Typical applications include:

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  Heat loss or gain through building surfaces

  
  
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  Solar radiation incident on horizontal surfaces

  
  
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  Design and analysis of heating and cooling systems

  
  

Heat flux is mathematically expressed as:

where q is heat flux in Btu(IT)/(h·ft²), Q is energy in Btu(IT), A is area in ft², and t is time in hours.

Conversion to SI units:

Although modern practice uses W/m², Btu(IT)/(h·ft²) remains prevalent in U.S. building codes, insulation tables, and historical thermal data, offering a convenient measure of energy transfer per square foot per hour.

Dyne per Hour per Centimeter [dyne/(h·cm)]

The unit dyne per hour per centimeter, written as dyne/(h·cm), measures force per unit length over time, often used in contexts such as viscous drag, material creep, or very slow mechanical processes in cgs (centimeter-gram-second) units.

A dyne is the cgs unit of force, defined as the force required to accelerate 1 gram of mass by 1 cm/s². Therefore, 1 dyne = 10⁻⁵ newtons in SI units. The additional division by centimeter represents a per-unit-length measure, and division by hour accounts for time rate.

Mathematically, the quantity can be expressed as:

where F is force in dynes, L is length in cm, and t is time in hours.

Applications include:

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  Creep or stress studies in materials under very small forces over long periods

  
  
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  Lubrication or viscous flow measurements in cgs-based engineering studies

  
  
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  Experimental mechanics where small forces per unit length are measured over extended time

  
  

Conversion to SI units:

This unit is largely of historical or specialized interest but provides a precise cgs-based measure for extremely slow, small-force phenomena.