Fundamental Constants
| Quantity | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic mass unit | u | [latex]\begin{array}{c}1.660 538 782\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(83\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-27}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}\hfill \\ 931.494 028\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(23\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV/}{c}^{2}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Avogadro’s number | [latex]{N}_{\text{A}}[/latex] | [latex]6.02214076\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{23}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{reciprocal mole}\left({\text{mol}}^{–1}\right)[/latex] |
| Bohr magneton | [latex]{\mu }_{\text{B}}=\frac{e\hslash }{2{m}_{e}}[/latex] | [latex]9.274 009 15\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(23\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-24}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{J/T}[/latex] |
| Bohr radius | [latex]{a}_{0}=\frac{{\hslash }^{2}}{{m}_{e}{e}^{2}{k}_{e}}[/latex] | [latex]5.291 772 085 9\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(36\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-11}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{m}[/latex] |
| Boltzmann’s constant | [latex]{k}_{\text{B}}=\frac{R}{{N}_{\text{A}}}[/latex] | [latex]1.380649\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{–23}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{joule per kelvin}\left(\text{J}\cdot {\text{K}}^{–1}\right)[/latex] |
| Compton wavelength | [latex]{\lambda }_{\text{C}}=\frac{h}{{m}_{e}c}[/latex] | [latex]2.426 310 217 5\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(33\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-12}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{m}[/latex] |
| Coulomb constant | [latex]{k}_{e}=\frac{1}{4\pi {\text{ε}}_{0}}[/latex] | [latex]8.987 551 788...\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{N}·{\text{m}}^{2}{\text{/C}}^{2}\left(\text{exact}\right)[/latex] |
| Deuteron mass | [latex]{m}_{d}[/latex] | [latex]\begin{array}{c}3.343 583 20\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(17\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-27}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}\hfill \\ 2.013 553 212 724\left(78\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{u}\hfill \\ 1875.612 859\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV/}{c}^{2}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Electron mass | [latex]{m}_{e}[/latex] | [latex]\begin{array}{c}9.109 382 15\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(45\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-31}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}\hfill \\ 5.485 799 094 3\left(23\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-4}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{u}\hfill \\ 0.510 998 910\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(13\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV/}{c}^{2}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Electron volt | eV | [latex]1.602 176 487\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(40\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-19}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{J}[/latex] |
| Elementary charge | e | [latex]1.602176634\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-19}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{C}[/latex] |
| Gas constant | R | [latex]8.314 472\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(15\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{J/mol}·\text{K}[/latex] |
| Gravitational constant | G | [latex]6.674 28\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(67\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-11}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{N}·{\text{m}}^{2}{\text{/kg}}^{2}[/latex] |
| Neutron mass | [latex]{m}_{n}[/latex] | [latex]\begin{array}{c}1.674 927 211\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(84\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-27}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}\hfill \\ 1.008 664 915 97\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(43\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{u}\hfill \\ 939.565 346\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(23\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV/}{c}^{2}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Nuclear magneton | [latex]{\mu }_{n}=\frac{e\hslash }{2{m}_{p}}[/latex] | [latex]5.050 783 24\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(13\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-27}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{J/T}[/latex] |
| Permeability of free space | [latex]{\mu }_{0}[/latex] | [latex]4\pi \phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-7}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{T}·\text{m/A}\left(\text{exact}\right)[/latex] |
| Permittivity of free space | [latex]{\text{ε}}_{0}=\frac{1}{{\mu }_{0}{c}^{2}}[/latex] | [latex]8.854 187 817...\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-12}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\text{C}}^{2}\text{/}\text{N}·{\text{m}}^{2}\left(\text{exact}\right)[/latex] |
| Planck’s constant | h [latex]\hslash =\frac{h}{2\pi }[/latex] |
[latex]\begin{array}{c}6.62607015\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-34}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}·{\text{m}}^{2}·{\text{s}}^{–1}\hfill \\ 1.05457182\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-34}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}·{\text{m}}^{2}·{\text{s}}^{–1}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Proton mass | [latex]{m}_{p}[/latex] | [latex]\begin{array}{c}1.672 621 637\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(83\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{-27}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{kg}\hfill \\ 1.007 276 466 77\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(10\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{u}\hfill \\ 938.272 013\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(23\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV/}{c}^{2}\hfill \end{array}[/latex] |
| Rydberg constant | [latex]{R}_{\text{H}}[/latex] | [latex]1.097 373 156 852 7\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(73\right)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{7}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\text{m}}^{-1}[/latex] |
| Speed of light in vacuum | c | [latex]2.997 924 58\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}×\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{10}^{8}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{m/s}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\left(\text{exact}\right)[/latex] |
Useful combinations of constants for calculations:
[latex]hc=12,400\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{Å}=1240\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{nm}=1240\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV}·\text{fm}[/latex]
[latex]\hslash c=1973\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{Å}=197.3\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{nm}=197.3\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV}·\text{fm}[/latex]
[latex]{k}_{e}{e}^{2}=14.40\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{Å}=1.440\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV}·\text{nm}=1.440\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{MeV}·\text{fm}[/latex]
[latex]{k}_{\text{B}}T=0.02585\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{eV at}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}T=300\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{K}[/latex]
Licenses and Attributions
Appendix C Fundamental Constants. Authored by: OpenStax College. Located at: https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/c-fundamental-constants. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/1-introduction
