ABSTRACT
As dimensional analysis is used, it is usually presented as a subset of similtitude. This chapter provides an argument that dimensional analysis is grounded in logical mathematical concepts. It focuses on the dimensions and units associated with physical variables make up the foundation. The nomenclature section provides the units for each of the variables used. The identification of the minimum number of nondimensional parameters that are required to describe a physical problem can be accomplished in a number of ways: a package designer could seek out traditional heat transfer literature to discover variables that have been used historically, a very large number of experiments can be performed and the important variables identified by trial and error, a nondimensional presentation of the governing differential equations can be used to reveal variables, and a dimensional analysis, tied closely with the Buckingham Pi theorem, can be used.
