Equation Sheets

The following pages of equations and conversions will be available on the computer on
which the exams are given for use during the examinations. The following plates from the
31st edition of the ACGIH® Industrial Ventilation Manual will also be available on the
computer for use during the examinations: Table 6-2, Figure 9-a.

August 1, 2024
 USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE BGC CIH EXAMINATION
This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the CIH examination. No assurance is given that this list is
complete or that the use of this list will assure the successful completion of any examination. The variables used
or the same as found in the reference sources for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.
[Metric (SI) equations are in brackets.] While the SI system may use both decimal dots and decimal commas as a
decimal marker, the decimal marker (decimal point) in this exam will always be a dot.
Unless otherwise noted, cfm is presumed to be acfm. acfm is cfm at actual conditions and scfm is cfm at standard
conditions and nm3/s is m3/s at actual conditions and sm3/s is m3/s at normal conditions.

VENTILATION

𝑄 = 𝑉𝐴 𝑉1𝐴1 = 𝑉2𝐴2 𝑇𝑃 = 𝑉𝑃 + 𝑆𝑃 𝑆𝑃1 + 𝑉𝑃1 = 𝑆𝑃2 + 𝑉𝑃2 + ∑ 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠1−2 𝑆𝑃ℎ = −⟮(𝐹ℎ + 1)VP𝑑⟯

𝑉𝑃 𝑉𝑃 𝑉 2 𝑉 2
𝑉 = 4005√ [𝑉 = 1.29√ ] 𝑉𝑃 =( ) 𝑑𝑓 [𝑉𝑃 =( ) 𝑑𝑓] ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝐹ℎ𝑥𝑉𝑃𝑑
ⅆ𝑓 ⅆ𝑓 4005 1.29

𝑉𝑃 𝑄 𝑄 |𝑆𝑃ℎ | |𝑆𝑃ℎ |
𝐶𝑒 = √|𝑆𝑃 𝑉𝑃𝑟 =( 1 ) 𝑉𝑃1 +( 2 )𝑉𝑃2 𝑄 = 4005(𝐶𝑒)√ (𝐴) [𝑄 = 1.29(𝐶𝑒)√ (𝐴) ]
ℎ| 𝑄3 𝑄3 ⅆ𝑓 ⅆ𝑓

𝑆𝑃𝑔𝑜𝑣 𝑄 𝑉𝑟 𝐶
𝑄 = 4005𝐶𝑒 𝐴√|𝑆𝑃ℎ | 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 𝑄𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟√ 𝑄′= 𝑡2 − 𝑡1 = − 𝑙𝑛( 𝑔2 )
𝑆𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖 𝑄′ 𝐶𝑔1

(𝐺−𝑄 ′𝐶𝑔 ) 𝑄 ′ (𝑡2 −𝑡1 ) (403)(𝑆𝐺)(𝐸𝑅)(𝑆𝑓 )(𝑚𝑖 )(106 ) (24)(𝑆𝐺)(𝐸𝑅)(𝑆𝑓 )(𝑚𝑖 )(106 )
𝑙𝑛 (𝐺−𝑄′𝐶𝑔2 )= − 𝑉𝑟
𝑄= (𝑀𝑊)(𝐶𝑔 )
[𝑄 = (𝑀𝑊)(𝐶𝑔)
]
1

𝑄′ 𝛥 𝑡
−( )
𝑉𝑟
(1−𝑒 )
60𝑄′ 𝐺 ⅆ 3 𝑅𝑃𝑀2
𝑁𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 = 𝐶𝑔2 =𝐺 𝐶 = ( 106 ) + 𝐶𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑄2 = 𝑄1 ( 2 ) ( )
𝑉𝑟 𝑄′ 𝑄′ ⅆ1 𝑅𝑃𝑀1

ⅆ 2 𝑅𝑃𝑀 2 ⅆ 5 𝑅𝑃𝑀 3
𝑃2 = 𝑃1 (ⅆ2 ) (𝑅𝑃𝑀2 ) 𝑃𝑊𝑅2 = 𝑃𝑊𝑅1 (ⅆ2 ) (𝑅𝑃𝑀2 ) 𝐹𝑆𝑃 = 𝑆𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑆𝑃𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑇𝑃 = 𝑇𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑃𝑖𝑛
1 1 1 1

NOISE
𝑃 𝐼 ⅆ 𝑊
𝑆𝑃𝐿 𝑜𝑟 𝐿𝑝 = 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝑃 ) 𝐿𝐼 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝐼 ) 𝑆𝑃𝐿2 = 𝑆𝑃𝐿1 + 20 𝑙𝑜𝑔(ⅆ1 ) 𝐿𝑤 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝑊 )
0 0 2 0

𝑁 𝑁 𝐿𝑃𝑖
1 𝐿𝑖 1
𝑊0 = 10−12 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 𝐿𝑒𝑞 = 10log( ∑ (10 𝑡 )) 𝐿𝑃𝑇 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔(∑ 10 ) 𝑇𝐿 = 10 log( )
𝑇 𝑖=1 10 𝑖 𝑖=1 10 𝜏

𝐿𝑝 = 𝐿𝑤 − 20 log 𝑟 − 0.5 + 𝐷𝐼 + 𝐶𝐹 [𝐿𝑝 = 𝐿𝑤 − 20log 𝑟 − 11 + 𝐷𝐼 + 𝐶𝐹] 𝐷𝐼 = 10 log 𝑄

𝐶 𝐶 𝐶 𝑇𝑐 %𝐷
%𝐷 = 100( 𝑇1 + 𝑇2 + ⋯ + 𝑇𝑖) 𝑇𝑝 = 2(𝐿 𝑇𝑊𝐴𝑒𝑞 = 10 𝑙𝑜𝑔(100)+ 85𝑑𝐵𝐴
1 2 𝑖 𝐴𝑆 −𝐿𝑐 ∕𝐸𝑅)

%𝐷 (𝑁)(𝑅𝑃𝑀) 𝐶
𝑇𝑊𝐴 = 16.61 𝑙𝑜𝑔(100)+ 90𝑑𝐵𝐴 𝑓= 60
𝑓=𝜆 𝑓2 = 2𝑓1 f 2 = 3 2 f1
 USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE BGC CIH EXAMINATION
This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the CIH examination. No assurance is given that this list is
complete or that the use of this list will assure the successful completion of any examination. The variables used
or the same as found in the reference sources for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.
[Metric (SI) equations are in brackets.] While the SI system may use both decimal dots and decimal commas as a
decimal marker, the decimal marker (decimal point) in this exam will always be a dot.
Unless otherwise noted, cfm is presumed to be acfm. acfm is cfm at actual conditions and scfm is cfm at standard
conditions and nm3/s is m3/s at actual conditions and sm3/s is m3/s at normal conditions.
GENERAL SCIENCES, STATISTICS, STANDARDS

2 (𝑝 −𝑝 )
𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑚 𝑃𝑣 𝑚𝑔∕𝑚3 ×24.45 𝑃1 𝑉1 𝑃2 𝑉2 𝑔 ⅆ𝑝 𝑝 𝑎
𝑝𝑝𝑚 = 𝑥106 𝑝𝑝𝑚 = 𝑥106 𝑝𝑝𝑚 = = 𝑉𝑇𝑆 =
𝑉𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 𝑚.𝑤. 𝑛𝑅𝑇1 𝑛𝑅𝑇2 18𝜂

𝑝 ⅆ𝑣 𝐼0 [𝐻 + ]x[𝐴− ] [𝐵𝐻 + ]×[𝑂𝐻 − ]

𝑅𝑒 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔 = 𝑎𝑏𝑐 𝑝𝐻 = −𝑙𝑜𝑔10[𝐻 + ] 𝐾𝑎 = 𝐾𝑏 =
𝜂 𝐼 [𝐻𝐴] 𝐵

𝑠𝑎𝑡.𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑃𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑋1𝑃1 + 𝑋2𝑃2+... +𝑋𝑖𝑃𝑖 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟/ℎ𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝑒𝑥𝑜𝑝𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑖ⅆ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒

1 8 24−ℎ 40 168−ℎ𝑤 (𝐶𝑠 −𝐶𝑏 )𝐴𝑐

𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑥 = 𝐹1 𝐹 𝐹 𝑅𝐹 = × 𝑅𝐹 = × 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑏 =
+ 2 +⋯+ 𝑛 ℎ 16 ℎ𝑤 128 1000𝐴𝑓 𝑣𝑠
𝑇𝐿𝑉1 𝑇𝐿𝑉2 𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑛

𝑓 𝐵
−
𝐸𝐴𝐶 𝑁𝑓 𝑁𝑏 0.61𝜆 ∑(𝑥̅ −𝑥𝑖 )2
𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑏 = 𝐸𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑑= 𝑆𝐷=√ 𝐺𝑀 = 𝑛√(𝑥1)(𝑥2).. . (𝑥𝑛)
1000𝑉𝑠 𝐴𝑓 𝜂 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 𝑛−1

∑(𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑥 ) 84.13% 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 50% 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

𝐺𝑀 = 10 𝐺𝑆𝐷 = 𝐺𝑆𝐷 = 𝑆𝐴𝐸 = 1.645𝐶𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑛 50% 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 15.87% 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

𝑆𝐷 𝑥̅1 −𝑥̅2
𝐶𝑉 = 𝐸𝑐=√𝐸12 + 𝐸22 + ⋯ + 𝐸𝑛2 𝑡 = 𝑆𝐷𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑑
𝑥̅ 𝑆𝐷𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑒ⅆ √
1
+
1
𝑛1 𝑛2

𝐶𝐴 𝑆𝐴𝐸√𝑇12 𝐶12 +𝑇22 𝐶22 +𝑇𝑛2 𝐶𝑛2 𝐿

𝐿𝐶𝐿 = − 𝑅𝑊𝐿 = 𝐿𝐶𝑥𝐻𝑀𝑥𝑉𝑀𝑥𝐷𝑀𝑥𝐴𝑀𝑥𝐹𝑀𝑥𝐶𝑀 𝐿𝐼 =
𝑃𝐸𝐿 𝑃𝐸𝐿(𝑇1 +𝑇2 +⋯+𝑇𝑛 ) 𝑅𝑊𝐿

90%𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑂𝑛𝑒­𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 95%𝑈𝐶𝐿 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛

HEAT STRESS

𝑊𝐵𝐺𝑇 = 0.7𝑡𝑛𝑤𝑏 + 0.2𝑡𝑔 + 0.1𝑡𝑑𝑏 𝑊𝐵𝐺𝑇 = 0.7𝑡𝑛𝑤𝑏 + 0.3𝑡𝑔 ∆𝑆 = (𝑀 − 𝑊) ± 𝐶 ± 𝑅 − 𝐸

 USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE BGC CIH EXAMINATION
This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the CIH examination. No assurance is given that this list is
complete or that the use of this list will assure the successful completion of any examination. The variables used
or the same as found in the reference sources for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.
[Metric (SI) equations are in brackets.] While the SI system may use both decimal dots and decimal commas as a
decimal marker, the decimal marker (decimal point) in this exam will always be a dot.
Unless otherwise noted, cfm is presumed to be acfm. acfm is cfm at actual conditions and scfm is cfm at standard
conditions and nm3/s is m3/s at actual conditions and sm3/s is m3/s at normal conditions.
RADIATION
−.693𝑡
ⅆ1 2
𝑡
ΓA 0.693 𝑇1/2
𝐼2 = 𝐼1 ( ) 𝑅𝑒𝑚 (𝑅𝐴𝐷)(𝑄𝐹) 𝐷 = ⅆ2
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑖 (0.5) 𝑇1/2
𝐴𝑖 = 𝑁𝑖 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑖 𝑒
ⅆ 2 𝑇1/2
𝐼1 𝐼1
1 𝐴 1 𝐵 𝑥 𝑥 𝐼
𝐼= (2) 𝐼0 𝐼= (10) 𝐼0 𝐼2 = 𝐼2 = 𝑥 = 3.32𝑙𝑜𝑔 (𝐼1 ) (𝐻𝑉𝐿) 𝐼 = 𝐼0 𝐵𝑒 −𝑢𝑥
2𝐻𝑉𝐿 10𝑇𝑉𝐿 2

1 1 1 1
𝑃𝐺 2 1 4𝛷 2 2 𝑓0 4𝜙 2 𝜌𝛷𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 2
(4𝜋𝐸𝐿) 𝑟𝑁𝐻𝑍 = ( −𝑎 ) 𝑟𝑁𝐻𝑍 = ( ) ( 𝜋𝐸𝐿 )
∅ 𝜋𝐸𝐿 𝑏0 𝜋𝐸𝐿
1 1
𝑁 𝐹𝑆 2
1 4𝛷 2 𝛴𝑖 =1 𝑖 2 0.003𝐽∕𝑐𝑚2 𝐸𝐿 𝐼0
𝐷𝑆 = ( − 𝑎2 ) ( ) t= t= x 0.1h O.D.= log
∅ 𝜋𝑇𝐿 𝑁 𝐸𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑀𝐿 𝐼

CONSTANTS AND CONVERSIONS

°F=9/5(°C)+32 °R=°F+460 K=°C+273.15 molar volume at 25°C, 1 atm=24.45L 1ft3 =28.32L=7.481 U.S. gal

1L=1.0566 qt 1 inch = 2.54 cm 12 inch = 1 ft 1 lb=453.6 grams 1 gram=15.43 grains 1 qt = 2 pt 4 qt = 1 gal

1 atm=14.7 psi=760 mm Hg=29.92 in Hg=33.93 ft water=1013.25 mbar=101,325 pascals

1 Curie=3.7x1010 disint/sec (Becquerel)= 2.2x1012 dpm 1 Gray=100 Rad 1 Sievert=100 Rem

1 Tesla=10,000 Gauss 1 BTU=1054.8 joules=0.293 watt hr 1 cal=4.184 joules

speed of sound in air at 68°F (20°C)=1130 fps (344 m/s) speed of light=3x108 m/s

Planck’s constant=6.626x10-27 erg sec Avogadro’s number=6.024x1023

gas constant, R=8.314 J/mole K=0.082 L atm/mole K density of air=1.29 g/L at atm, 0°C

g=981 cm/sec2 =32 ft/sec2 Ac =385 mm2 for 25 mm filter Af=0.00785 mm2 𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2

The density (ρ) of air at standard (normal) conditions is 0.075 lbm/ft3 (1.25 kg/m3) at sea level, 407" wg (101,325
Pa), 70°F (21°C) dry bulb temperature and zero moisture
 TABLE 6-2. Summary of Hood Airflow Equations

From: Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 31st Edition © ACGIH 2023. To
purchase the publication: Store - Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 31st
Edition - ACGIH Portal
From: Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 31st Edition © ACGIH 2023. To
purchase the publication: Store - Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 31st
Edition - ACGIH Portal