Modern Physics/Constants of Nature

This is a brief listing of some constant values that are used in this book. Constants are currently listed in no particular order.

Constant Name	Definition
Absolute zero temperature	0 K = −273.15 °C
Speed of light in vacuum	c = 2.99792458 × 108 m·s-1
Newtonian constant of gravitation	G = 6.6742 × 10−11 m3·kg-1 s-2
Planck constant	h = 6.6260693 × 10−34 J·Hz-1 = 4.136 × 10-15 eV·s;
Planck constant over	= 1.05457148 × 10−34 J·s
Elementary charge	e = 1.60217653 × 10−19 C
Avogadro constant	NA = 6.0221415 × 1023 mol-1
Constant in Coulomb's law	K = 8.988 × 109 N·m2·kg-2
Boltzmann's constant	k = 1.3806505 × 10−23 J K-1
Stefan-Boltzmann constant	σ = 5.670400 × 10−8 W·m-2·K-4
Unified atomic mass unit	1 u = 1.66056×10−27 kg
Bohr radius	a0 = 5.292 × 10−11 m
Electron radius	re = 2.81792 × 10-15
Molar gas constant	R = 8.314472 J·mol-1·K-1
Molar Volume	Vmol = 22.41383 m3·kmol-1
Mass of an electron	me = 9.1093897 × 10-31 kg
Mass of a proton	mp = 1.6726231 × 10-27 kg
Mass of a neutron	mn = 1.6749286 × 10-27 kg
Permeability of vacuum	μ0 = 4π × 10−7T2·m3·J-1 = 12.566370614 × 10−7 T2·m3·J-1
Permittivity of vacuum	ε0 = 1/(μ0c2) = 8.854187817 × 10−12 C2·J-1·m-1
Fine structure constant	α = e2/(2ε0hc) = 1/137.0359895 = 7.2974 × 10-3
Thomson cross-section	σe = 6.652 × 10−29 m2

Some values from the 2002 CODATA recommended values of the Fundamental Physical Constants. See Constants Information at NIST.