Interpreting Calchemy error messages

There are three basic kinds of errors reported by Calchemy, Syntax errors, Undefined unit names, and dimensional mismatch errors as described below.

Error: Syntax error at ...

Calchemy will inform you of the syntax error and try to tell you the location of the error in the input line. This works better in the Windows version...

Error: Undefined unit name

If Calchemy does not recognize a unit you've entered it will inform you with this message and try to tell you the name of the unknown unit. In most cases undefined units result from miss-spelling or capitalization. Note, unit names are case sensitive, try looking up the unit in the Unit Definitions page. If you happen to know a unit that Calchemy does not, you can define it yourself, but only in the Windows version...

Mismatch... Off by...

Whenever Calchemy solves an equation it automatically performs a dimensional analysis to insure that both sides of the "?" have the same units. If they do not Calchemy will inform you that it cannot solve the equation because of the dimensional mismatch. It will also inform you about what (dimension) might be missing on the left hand side of the equation. Adding a parameter having the "Off by" dimension to the left hand side will result in a solution. Sometimes the Off by list can be confusing, particularly if your using Solve By Dimensional Analysis. In this case there are usually many combinations of dimension possible. If your stuck, try reducing the ambiguity by using fewer semicolons in the equation.

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