About the Force Converter
A force unit only makes sense once you know what gravity was assumed. The newton is clean: it accelerates one kilogram at one metre per second squared. The gravitational units are different, because a kilogram force is whatever a kilogram pushes down with under standard gravity of 9.80665 metres per second squared, which makes it 9.80665 newtons exactly.
That constant explains most of the numbers on this page. A tonne force is a thousand kilogram force, or 9806.65 newtons. A pound force is 4.4482216152605 newtons, following from the same standard gravity applied to the international pound. A kip, common in American structural drawings, is a thousand pounds force. The poundal runs the other way: it is the force that accelerates one pound at one foot per second squared, so it is much smaller at about 0.138 newtons.
Dynes come from the CGS system and equal ten microjoules per metre, or 0.00001 newtons, so a newton is a hundred thousand dynes. They still appear in surface tension figures and older physics problems. Bolt torque specifications are a different quantity again and cannot be converted here, since torque combines force with a lever arm. Force spread over an area gives pressure, which the Pressure Converter deals with.
How to use
- Enter the force values, one on each line.
- Choose the unit your source document uses.
- Choose the unit you need for the calculation.
- Copy the converted list, or keep the factor line for your own spreadsheet.
Common questions
- How many newtons is one kilogram force?
- Exactly 9.80665 newtons, using the standard gravity constant.
- What is a kip?
- A thousand pounds force, about 4448.22 newtons. Structural engineers in the United States use it to keep load numbers short.
- Is weight in kilograms the same as force?
- Strictly no. A scale reading in kilograms reports mass. Multiply by 9.80665 to get the downward force in newtons.
- Can I convert torque figures such as Nm or lb ft?
- No. Torque is force multiplied by a distance, so it needs its own unit set rather than the plain force factors here.