Simbody
Defines

Physical Constants

Preprocessor Macro Constants

These constants are from the CODATA 2002 set from the NIST Physics Laboratory web site http://physics.nist.gov/constants (NIST SP 961 Dec 2005). More...

Defines

#define SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER   6.0221415e23L
 Avogadro's number (NA) is defined as the number of atoms in 12g of pure Carbon-12 in its unbound, rest state.
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_PROTON_IN_MD   1.00727646688L
 Mass of a proton in MD units.
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_NEUTRON_IN_MD   1.00866491560L
 Mass of a neutron in MD units.
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_ELECTRON_IN_MD   5.4857990945e-4L
 Mass of an electron in MD units.
#define SimTK_CHARGE_OF_PROTON_IN_SI   1.60217653e-19L
 Atomic charge unit e expressed in MKS unit of Coulombs.
#define SimTK_CHARGE_OF_PROTON_IN_MD   1.L
 Atomic charge unit e expressed in MD units, which uses e as its charge unit! The charge on an electron is just the negative of this value.
#define SimTK_MOLAR_CHARGE_IN_SI   9.6485338e+4L
 The charge of 1 mole of protons, expressed in Coulombs.
#define SimTK_MOLAR_CHARGE_IN_MD   SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER
 The charge of 1 mole of protons, expressed in MD units where the unit of charge is just the charge on one proton.
#define SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_SI   2.99792458e+8L
 Speed of light c is exact in MKS units of m/s.
#define SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_MD   2.99792458e+5L
 Speed of light c is exact in MD units of nm/ps.
#define SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_SI   6.6742e-11L
 Newton's gravitational constant G in N-m^2/kg^2 = m^3 kg^-1 s^-2.
#define SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_MD   1.10827e-34L
 Newton's gravitational constant G in (kJ/mol)-nm^2/u^2 = nm^3 u^-1 ps^-2.
#define SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_SI   1.256637061435917295385057353311801153678867759750042328389977837e-6L
 Free space magnetic permeability constant mu0 in SI units (exact).
#define SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_MD   1.94259179e-8L
 Free space magnetic permeability constant mu0 in MD units (not exact).
#define SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_SI   8.854187817620389850536563031710750260608370166599449808102417149e-12L
 Free space permittivity constant e0 = 1/(mu0*c^2) Farad/m = Coulomb^2/(N-m^2) (exact in SI units).
#define SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_MD   5.7276575e-4L
 Free space permittivity constant e0=1/(mu0*c^2) e^2/(kN-nm^2) using MD permeability and MD lightspeed.
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_SI   8.9875517873681764e+9L
 Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4pi*e0)=1e-7*c^2 N-m^2/Coulomb^2 (exact in SI units).
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_MD   1.38935456e+2L
 Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4*pi*e0) in MD units.
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_KCAL_ANGSTROM   3.32063711e+2L
 Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4*pi*e0) in kcal-Angstroms/e^2.
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_SI   8.314472L
 This is the gas constant R in (J/mol)/K.
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_MD   8.314472e-3L
 This is the gas constant R in (kJ/mol)/K.
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM   1.9872065e-3L
 This is the gas constant R in (kcal/mol)/K.
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_SI   1.3806505e-23L
 Boltzmann's constant in SI units of joules/kelvin; just divide R by NA.
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_MD   SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_MD
 Boltzmann's constant in MD units of (kJ/mol)/kelvin; same as R.
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM   SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM
 Boltzmann's constant in Kcal-Angstrom units of (kcal/mol)/kelvin; same as R.

Detailed Description

These constants are from the CODATA 2002 set from the NIST Physics Laboratory web site http://physics.nist.gov/constants (NIST SP 961 Dec 2005).

Ref: P.J. Mohr and B.N. Taylor, Rev. Mod. Phys. 77(1) (2005).

Uncertainty
Uncertainties are given in the CODATA set as the one-std-deviation uncertainty in the last 2 digits of the given value. That means that there is about a 68% chance that the last two digits are as shown +/- the uncertainty.

How to combine uncertainties (extracted from http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Uncertainty/combination.html): Assume measured quantities are x1, y1 with u1=uncertainty(x1), u2=uncertainty(x2). We want to combine them into a new quantity y and calculate u=uncertainty(y).

    Addition rule: y    = a1*x1 + a2*x2 for factors a1,a2.
     then          u^2  = a1*u1^2 + a2*u2^2
    Multiplication rule y = a*x1^e1*x2^e2 for factor a and exponents e1,e2.
    Let ur1=u1/|x1|, ur2=u2/|x2| be the relative uncertainties, ur is u/|y|.
     then          ur^2 = e1^2*ur1^2 + e2^2*ur2^2, u = ur*|y|

Define Documentation

#define SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER   6.0221415e23L

Avogadro's number (NA) is defined as the number of atoms in 12g of pure Carbon-12 in its unbound, rest state.

The number is 1 mole (mol).

uncertainty
10e16
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_PROTON_IN_MD   1.00727646688L

Mass of a proton in MD units.

The atomic mass unit u (or amu) is defined as 1/12 of the mass of a Carbon-12 atom, unbound and in its rest state. This definition matched to Avogadro's number's definition ensures that 1 mole of particles of mass 1u each has total mass exactly 1g. This is synonymous with the dalton (Da), with units of g/mole, so 1u = 1Dalton = 1g/mole. We will use Da for this mass unit, with kDa being a common mass measure for large biomolecules.

uncertainty
13e-11
See also:
SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_NEUTRON_IN_MD   1.00866491560L

Mass of a neutron in MD units.

uncertainty
55e-11
See also:
SimTK_MASS_OF_PROTON_IN_MD
#define SimTK_MASS_OF_ELECTRON_IN_MD   5.4857990945e-4L

Mass of an electron in MD units.

uncertainty
24e-14
See also:
SimTK_MASS_OF_PROTON_IN_MD
#define SimTK_CHARGE_OF_PROTON_IN_SI   1.60217653e-19L

Atomic charge unit e expressed in MKS unit of Coulombs.

The charge on an electron is just the negative of this value.

uncertainty
14e-27
#define SimTK_CHARGE_OF_PROTON_IN_MD   1.L

Atomic charge unit e expressed in MD units, which uses e as its charge unit! The charge on an electron is just the negative of this value.

uncertainty
exact (duh!)
#define SimTK_MOLAR_CHARGE_IN_SI   9.6485338e+4L

The charge of 1 mole of protons, expressed in Coulombs.

    1.60217653(14)e-19 C/e * 6.0221415(10)e23 = 9.6485338(18)e+4
 
uncertainty
18e-3
#define SimTK_MOLAR_CHARGE_IN_MD   SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER

The charge of 1 mole of protons, expressed in MD units where the unit of charge is just the charge on one proton.

So in MD units this is just Avogadro's number.

See also:
SimTK_AVOGADROS_NUMBER
#define SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_SI   2.99792458e+8L

Speed of light c is exact in MKS units of m/s.

uncertainty
exact
See also:
SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_MD
#define SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_MD   2.99792458e+5L

Speed of light c is exact in MD units of nm/ps.

uncertainty
exact
See also:
SimTK_LIGHTSPEED_IN_SI
#define SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_SI   6.6742e-11L

Newton's gravitational constant G in N-m^2/kg^2 = m^3 kg^-1 s^-2.

The force between two point masses m1,m2 separated by a distance d is

 F = -G m1*m2/d^2 

(with the "-" indicating an attractive force).

uncertainty
10e-15
See also:
SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_MD
#define SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_MD   1.10827e-34L

Newton's gravitational constant G in (kJ/mol)-nm^2/u^2 = nm^3 u^-1 ps^-2.

 Conversion is (nm/m)^3 (u/kg)^-1 (ps/s)^-2
          = 1.66053886(28)e-24L     (uncertainty: 28e-32)
 

This is why gravity doesn't matter in molecular systems. Don't try this in single precision -- you'll run out of exponent!

uncertainty
17e-39
See also:
SimTK_GRAVITATIONAL_CONSTANT_IN_SI
#define SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_SI   1.256637061435917295385057353311801153678867759750042328389977837e-6L

Free space magnetic permeability constant mu0 in SI units (exact).

   = 4*pi * 1e-7 exactly in N/A^2 (Newtons/Ampere^2) = kg-m/C^2
 
uncertainty
approximation of an exact quantity
See also:
SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_SI
#define SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_MD   1.94259179e-8L

Free space magnetic permeability constant mu0 in MD units (not exact).

 Convert kg->g/mole, m->nm, C->e = (4*pi*1e5)*1.60217653e-19^2*6.0221415e23
      (exact in SI units, but not exact here)
 
uncertainty
47e-16
See also:
SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_MD
#define SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_SI   8.854187817620389850536563031710750260608370166599449808102417149e-12L

Free space permittivity constant e0 = 1/(mu0*c^2) Farad/m = Coulomb^2/(N-m^2) (exact in SI units).

uncertainty
approximation of an exact quantity
See also:
SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_SI
#define SimTK_ELECTRIC_PERMITTIVITY_IN_MD   5.7276575e-4L

Free space permittivity constant e0=1/(mu0*c^2) e^2/(kN-nm^2) using MD permeability and MD lightspeed.

uncertainty
14e-11
See also:
SimTK_MAGNETIC_PERMEABILITY_IN_MD
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_SI   8.9875517873681764e+9L

Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4pi*e0)=1e-7*c^2 N-m^2/Coulomb^2 (exact in SI units).

This is the constant that appears in Coulomb's law f(r)= kappa*q1*q2/r^2.

uncertainty
exact
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_MD   1.38935456e+2L

Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4*pi*e0) in MD units.

This is the constant that appears in Coulomb's law f(r)= kappa*q1*q2/r^2.

 Coulomb's consant in MD units uses MD e0 & c: 
   1/(4*pi*e0)=1e5*1.60217653e-19^2*6.0221415e23*c^2 kN-nm^2/e^2 (=kJ-nm/e^2)
     (exact in SI units but not exact in MD)
 
uncertainty
33e-6
#define SimTK_COULOMB_CONSTANT_IN_KCAL_ANGSTROM   3.32063711e+2L

Coulomb's constant kappa = 1/(4*pi*e0) in kcal-Angstroms/e^2.

This is the constant that appears in Coulomb's law f(r)= kappa*q1*q2/r^2. This is an exact conversion from MD units (which are inexact).

uncertainty
80e-6
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_SI   8.314472L

This is the gas constant R in (J/mol)/K.

uncertainty
15e-6
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_MD   8.314472e-3L

This is the gas constant R in (kJ/mol)/K.

This is an exact conversion from SI units, differing only in the use of kJ here vs. J in SI.

uncertainty
15e-9
#define SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM   1.9872065e-3L

This is the gas constant R in (kcal/mol)/K.

This is an exact conversion from MD units, differing only in the use of kcal here vs. kJ in MD.

uncertainty
36e-10
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_SI   1.3806505e-23L

Boltzmann's constant in SI units of joules/kelvin; just divide R by NA.

uncertainty
24e-30
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_MD   SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_MD

Boltzmann's constant in MD units of (kJ/mol)/kelvin; same as R.

See also:
SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_MD
#define SimTK_BOLTZMANN_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM   SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM

Boltzmann's constant in Kcal-Angstrom units of (kcal/mol)/kelvin; same as R.

See also:
SimTK_MOLAR_GAS_CONSTANT_KCAL_ANGSTROM
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