Peer Review

Science Unit Converter

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This is a very simple unit converter that could be useful to beginning students
in most areas of science and engineering. It offers a variety of conversions
that include energy, pressure, volume, temperature and mass units. Both SI and
English units are addressed.
Type of Material:: An online calculator and reference material.
Recommended Uses:: An online calculator that students might use for problem solving that requires
unit conversions in physics, chemistry, or engineering classes.
Technical Requirements:: An internet browser capable of supporting Java applets.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: To teach students how to convert various physical quantities from one unit to
another.
Target Student Population:: Anyone involved in unit conversions. Particularly useful for science and
engineering students in high school or college.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: An understanding of the physical quantities and units encountered in physics,
chemistry, and engineering.

Rating:
Strengths:: The calculator appears to be quite accurate in its conversions, and offers a
variety of useful unit conversions. In addition, the variables included are
certainly some of the principal ones encountered by beginning students in
science and engineering.
Concerns:: A serious omission is the conversion of length units. In the energy conversion
section of the calculator, it offers Joules and calories but not BTU as a unit.
Likewise, in the temperature section Kelvin, Fahrenheit, and Celsius
temperatures are offered, but not Rankine. And in the volume section, cubic feet
is not one of the units offered. These omissions make it less useful as an
engineering calculator.

Rating:
Strengths:: The calculator's simplicity and rapid response make it attractive for students
and educators alike to use in assignments or classroom activities when unit
conversions are being introduced. Another nice feature for both educators and
students is its "How it's Done" section which provides the actual conversion
factors used by the calculator. Thus, the mystery of the "black box" is removed.
Concerns:: The calculator frequently displays an inordinate number of significant figures
in its unit conversions. Although the conversion factors actually used by the
calculator employ only 3-6 significant figures, answers are often reported to as
many as 15 significant figures. For example 45 Joules converts to
10.755258126195 Calories, and 70?F converts to 21.1111111111111?C. Students
using the calculator would have to be cautioned against believing and reporting
15 significant figures in their problem solutions, a common problem with
beginning students.

Also, although the conversion factors are shown, it would be more useful for
beginning students if an exqample of an entire conversion calcuation itself were
also shown.

Rating:
Strengths:: The calculator is very easy to use with obvious input boxes and radio buttons
for entering values and selecting input units. Clear "how to use" instructions
are given on the same page.
Concerns:: Abbreviations used for some units might not be clear to the beginning student
(e.g. atm, mm Hg, etc). A list of abbreviations and an explanation for each unit
would be very useful.

Other Issues and Comments:: Although somewhat limited in scope, this is an easy to use unit converter that
could be useful for science and engineering students just learning to convert
units.
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