USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE ABIH EXAMINATIONS

This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the ABIH examinations. 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 are
the same as found in the reference source for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.
[Metric (SI) equations are in brackets]

VENTILATION
   P
P
𝑄 = 𝑉𝐴 𝑉1 𝐴1 = 𝑉2 𝐴2 𝑇𝑃 = 𝑉𝑃 + 𝑆𝑃 𝑆𝑃1 + 𝑉𝑃1 = 𝑆𝑃2 + 𝑉𝑃2 + ∑ 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠1−2 𝑆𝑃ℎ =
SPL − log
SPL
20 (𝐹20
ℎ+ 1)VP
 log
 𝑑
 P0  P0 

2 2
𝑉𝑃 𝑉𝑃  𝑉 PP    𝑉PP
𝑉 = 4005√ [𝑉 = 1.29√ ] SPL 20
SPL𝑉𝑃 = log
20 log  𝑑𝑓 SPL 2020
[𝑉𝑃
SPL = log
log  𝑑𝑓] ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 = 𝐹ℎ 𝑥𝑉𝑃𝑑
𝑑𝑓 𝑑𝑓  4005
PP00    1.29
P0P0

𝑉𝑃   𝑄P1 P    𝑄P2 P  |𝑆𝑃ℎ | |𝑆𝑃ℎ |

𝐶𝑒 = √ SPLSPL𝑉𝑃𝑟 20
20 =log
SPL 𝑉𝑃
logSPL 120
20 +log
 log  𝑉𝑃
2 𝑄 = 4005(𝐶𝑒)√ (𝐴) [𝑄 = 1.29(𝐶𝑒)√ (𝐴)]
|𝑆𝑃ℎ |  𝑄P30 P0  𝑄P30 P0 𝑑𝑓 𝑑𝑓
   

𝑆𝑃𝑔𝑜𝑣 𝑄 𝑉𝑟   𝐶𝑔2PP  
𝑄 = 4005𝐶𝑒 𝐴√|𝑆𝑃ℎ | 𝑄𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 𝑄𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 √ 𝑄′ = 𝑡2 − SPL
𝑡1 =  20
−
SPL ′20
𝑙𝑛
 
loglog  
𝑆𝑃𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖 𝑄   𝐶𝑔1 P0 P0 

(𝐺 − 𝑄 ′ 𝐶𝑔2 ) 𝑄 ′ (𝑡2 − 𝑡1 ) (403)(𝑆𝐺)(𝐸𝑅)(𝑚𝑖 )(106 ) (24)(𝑆𝐺)(𝐸𝑅)(𝑚𝑖 )(106 )

𝑙𝑛 =− 𝑄= [𝑄 = ]
(𝐺 − 𝑄 ′ 𝐶𝑔1 ) 𝑉𝑟 (𝑀𝑊)(𝐶𝑔 ) (𝑀𝑊)(𝐶𝑔 )

  −(𝑄𝑉′∆𝑡P) 
P
𝐺 log
SPL SPL
20 1 20
− 𝑒 log
 𝑟  3
60𝑄  P0  P0  −(
𝑄′ ∆𝑡
)   𝑑P
2 P  𝑅𝑃𝑀PP 
𝑁𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 = 𝐶𝑔2 = 𝐶𝑔2 = 𝐶𝑔1 𝑒 𝑉𝑟 SPL 𝑄2 20
SPL =𝑄20
1  log
SPL
log log 2 
 20 log
𝑉𝑟 𝑄′   𝑑P10 P 0  𝑅𝑃𝑀 P010 
P

2 2 5 3
  𝑑P 2 P  𝑅𝑃𝑀 P 
P   𝑑P 2 P  𝑅𝑃𝑀 P 
P
SPL 220
𝑃
SPL  20
= 𝑃SPL
1  log
log log 2 
 20 log 𝑃𝑊𝑅
SPL=𝑃𝑊𝑅
2SPL  20
20  SPL
1  log
log log 2 
 20 log 𝐹𝑆𝑃 = 𝑆𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑆𝑃𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑇𝑃 = 𝑇𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑃𝑖𝑛
  𝑑P10 P0  𝑅𝑃𝑀 P010 
P   𝑑P10 P0  𝑅𝑃𝑀 P010 
P

NOISE
  𝑃 P P    P𝐼  P    𝑑P1 P    𝑊 P P 
𝑆𝑃𝐿 𝑜𝑟SPL = 20
𝐿𝑝 SPL20𝑙𝑜𝑔
20
log log SPL  10
𝐿𝐼 SPL
= 20𝑙𝑜𝑔
log log  𝑆𝑃𝐿2 = 𝑆𝑃𝐿
20 SPL+20
20𝑙𝑜𝑔
1SPL 
20 
log log   SPL =10
𝐿𝑤 SPL 𝑙𝑜𝑔
20 
20 
log log  
  𝑃P00 P0   P 𝐼00 P0    𝑑P20 P0   𝑊 0 
P00 P

𝑁 𝑁
 1 P  𝐿𝑖P P    P 𝐿P 𝑃𝑖    P1  P 
𝑊0 = 10 −12
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 𝐿𝑒𝑞 = 10log
SPL SPL
20 ∑
 log
SPL
SPL 2020 10
log10 𝑡
 log 𝑖  𝐿𝑃𝑇 SPL
= SPL  20
10𝑙𝑜𝑔
20 ∑
log 1010 
 log =20
10log
𝑇𝐿 SPL
SPL 20  log 
log
𝑇
 𝑖=1  P0P0 
P0  P0 P0 
 𝑖=1  P𝜏0  P0 

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

 𝐶1 P𝐶2  𝐶P𝑖  𝑇𝑐   %𝐷 P P 
SPL=100
%𝐷 log+ 20
+..log
.+ 𝑇𝑝 = 𝑇𝑊𝐴𝑒𝑞 =10𝑙𝑜𝑔  + 85𝑑𝐵𝐴
𝑇P𝑖0   log
20  SPL (𝐿
SPLSPL 2020  log
 𝑇1 P0𝑇2  2 𝐴𝑆−𝐿𝑐 /𝐸𝑅)   100P0P0 

  %𝐷 PP  (𝑁)(𝑅𝑃𝑀) 𝑐 3
𝑇𝑊𝐴 =
SPL
SPL
16.61 𝑙𝑜𝑔
20  log
20  log  + 90𝑑𝐵𝐴 𝑓= 𝑓= 𝑓2 = 2𝑓1 𝑓𝑐 = √𝑓1 𝑓2 𝑓2 = √2𝑓1
  100P0P0  60 𝜆
 USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE ABIH EXAMINATIONS

This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the ABIH examinations. 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 are
the same as found in the reference source for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.
[Metric (SI) equations are in brackets]

GENERAL SCIENCES, STATISTICS, STANDARDS

𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑚 𝑃𝑣 𝑚𝑔/𝑚3 𝑥24.45 𝑃1 𝑉1 𝑃2 𝑉2 𝑔𝑑𝑝 2 (𝜌𝑝 − 𝜌𝑎 )

𝑝𝑝𝑚 = 𝑥106 𝑝𝑝𝑚 = 𝑥106 𝑝𝑝𝑚 = = 𝑉𝑇𝑆 =
𝑉𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 𝑚. 𝑤. 𝑛𝑅𝑇1 𝑛𝑅𝑇2 18𝜂

+ −
𝜌𝑑𝑣 𝐼𝑜 [𝐻 + ]𝑥[𝐴− ] [𝐵𝐻 ]𝑥[𝑂𝐻 ]
𝑅𝑒 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔 = 𝑎𝑏𝑐 𝑝𝐻 = −𝑙𝑜𝑔10 [𝐻 + ] 𝐾𝑎 = 𝐾𝑏 =
𝜂 𝐼 [𝐻𝐴] [𝐵]

𝑠𝑎𝑡. 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶1 𝐶2 𝐶𝑛
𝑃𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑋1 𝑃1 + 𝑋2 𝑃2 +. . . +𝑋𝑖 𝑃𝑖 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟/ℎ𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑥 = + +. . . +
𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑇𝐿𝑉1 𝑇𝐿𝑉2 𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑛

1 8 24 − ℎ 40 168 − ℎ𝑤 (𝐶𝑠 − 𝐶𝑏 )𝐴𝑐

𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑥 = 𝑅𝐹 = 𝑥 𝑅𝐹 = 𝑥 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑏 =
𝐹1 𝐹2 𝐹 ℎ 16 ℎ𝑤 128 1000𝐴𝑓 𝑉𝑠
+ + ⋯+ 𝑛
𝑇𝐿𝑉1 𝑇𝐿𝑉2 𝑇𝐿𝑉𝑛

𝑓 𝐵
𝐸𝐴𝑐 𝑁𝑓 − 𝑁𝑏 0.61𝜆 ∑(𝑥 − 𝑥𝑖 )2
𝑆𝐷 = √
𝑛
𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑏 = 𝐸𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑑= 𝐺𝑀 = √(𝑥1 )(𝑥2 ). . . (𝑥𝑛 )
1000𝑉𝑠 𝐴𝑓 𝜂sin𝛼 𝑛−1

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

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

𝑥1 − 𝑥2 (𝑛1 − 1)𝑆𝐷1 2 + (𝑛2 − 1)𝑆𝐷2 2

𝐸𝑐 = √𝐸12 + 𝐸22 +. . . +𝐸𝑛2 𝑡= 𝑆𝐷𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑑 = √
1 1 𝑛1 + 𝑛2 − 2
𝑆𝐷𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑑 √ +
𝑛1 𝑛2

𝐶𝐴 𝑆𝐴𝐸 √𝑇1 2 𝐶1 2 + 𝑇2 2 𝐶2 2 +. . . +𝑇𝑛 2 𝐶𝑛 2 𝐿

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

𝑆𝐷 𝑆𝐷
90%𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙 = 𝑋 ± 1.645 𝑂𝑛𝑒­𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 95%𝑈𝐶𝐿 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = 𝑋 + 1.645
√𝑛 √𝑛

HEAT STRESS

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

 USEFUL EQUATIONS FOR THE ABIH EXAMINATIONS

This list of equations is offered as assistance in taking the ABIH examinations. 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 are
the same as found in the reference source for the equation. No attempt has been made to standardize variables.

RADIATION

2
𝑡 −0.693𝑡
  𝑑P1 P  𝛤𝐴 𝑇1⁄ 0.693 𝑇1⁄
𝐼220
SPLSPL =20 1  log   𝑅𝑒𝑚 = (𝑅𝐴𝐷)(𝑄𝐹)
𝐼log 𝐷= 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑖 (0.5) 2 𝐴𝑖 = 𝑁𝑖 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑖 𝑒 2

  𝑑P20 P0  𝑑2 𝑇1⁄

2

𝐴 𝐵 𝐼1 𝐼1  P 𝐼1  P 
𝐼 = (1⁄2) 𝐼0 𝐼 = (1⁄10) 𝐼0 𝐼2 = 𝐼2 = 𝑋= 3.32log
2020 (𝐻𝑉𝐿) 𝐼 = 𝐼0 𝐵𝑒 −𝑢𝑥
𝐼20 P0 
𝑋 𝑋 SPLSPL log log
2𝐻𝑉𝐿 10𝑇𝑉𝐿  P

1 1 1 (𝑇1⁄ ) (𝑇1⁄ ) 𝐸2 4𝑃
2𝑟𝑎𝑑 2𝑏𝑖𝑜
= + 𝑇1⁄ = 𝑆= 𝑆 = 37.7𝐻 2 𝑆=
𝑇1⁄ 𝑇1⁄ 𝑇1⁄ 2𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑇1⁄ + 𝑇1⁄ 3770 𝐴
2𝑒𝑓𝑓 2𝑟𝑎𝑑 2𝑏𝑖𝑜 2𝑟𝑎𝑑 2𝑏𝑖𝑜

1⁄ 1⁄ 1⁄ 1⁄
2 2 2 2
 𝑃𝐺P  1  4Φ  P  P2  𝑓0  4Φ PP   cosθ
 𝜌Φ P P 
SPL 𝑟 20
SPL =  log 
20 𝑟SPLSPL
𝑁𝐻𝑍  20
=20 −𝑎 
log log SPL=2020
𝑟𝑁𝐻𝑍
SPL   log  
log 𝑟SPL
SPL
𝑁𝐻𝑍  20
 20
=  𝜋𝐸𝐿
 loglog  
 4𝜋𝐸𝐿
P0  ∅  𝜋𝐸𝐿 P0 P0  𝑏0  𝜋𝐸𝐿
P0P0    P0 P0 

1⁄ 1⁄
2 2 2
1  4Φ P P2   ∑𝑁 P𝐹𝑆
𝑖=1 𝑖 
P 0.003𝐽/𝑐𝑚2 𝐸𝐿 𝐼0
SPL𝑠
𝐷SPL  20
=20 −𝑎 
 log
log 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙
SPL𝑎𝑣𝑒
SPL=20
 20 log log  t= 𝑡= 𝑥0.1ℎ 𝑂. 𝐷. = log
∅  𝜋𝑇𝐿
 P0 P0    P𝑁0  P0  𝐸𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑀𝐿 𝐼

𝑔⁄
𝐷𝐿 = √𝑎2 + ∅2 𝑟 2 𝐺 = 10 10

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

1 ft3 =7.481 U.S. gal 1L=1.0566 qt 1 inch = 2.54 cm 1 lb=453.6 grams 1 gram=15.43 grains

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
 TABLE 6-3. Summary of Hood Airflow Equations

From ACGIH®, Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 29th Edition. Copyright 2016. Reprinted with permission.
From ACGIH®, Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 29th Edition. Copyright 2016. Reprinted with permission.
From ACGIH®, Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 29th Edition. Copyright 2016. Reprinted with permission.
From ACGIH®, Industrial Ventilation: A Manual of Recommended Practice for Design, 29th Edition. Copyright 2016. Reprinted with permission.