Force Converter

Which force units can I convert?

Newtons, kilonewtons, pound-force, kilogram-force, dynes and ounce-force. The newton is the base, so every pair is converted by passing through newtons. Mass units such as kilograms or pounds are not force units and are not in the list.

What is a newton in terms of other units?

One newton is the force that gives a mass of 1 kg an acceleration of 1 m/s², so 1 N = 1 kg·m/s². A 1 kg mass resting on Earth’s surface presses down with roughly 9.8 N, because gravity accelerates it at about 9.8 m/s².

What is the difference between kg and kgf?

The kilogram is a unit of mass; the kilogram-force is the weight of that mass under standard gravity, defined as exactly 9.80665 N. So 70 kgf is 686.4655 N, the pull of a 70 kg mass in standard gravity. The tool converts kgf as a force; it does not take a mass in kilograms.

How is pound-force defined?

One pound-force is the weight of one avoirdupois pound (exactly 0.45359237 kg) under standard gravity, which comes to 4.4482216152605 N. The converter uses that full value. Pound-force is not the same as pound-mass, and a pound-force is exactly 16 ounce-force.

What is a dyne and who still uses it?

A dyne is the CGS unit of force: 1 g·cm/s², equal to exactly 0.00001 N, so one newton is 100,000 dyn. It appears in older physics texts and in some surface tension and materials data, where tension is given in dyn/cm.

Is force the same as pressure or torque?

No. Pressure is force per unit area, such as N/m² or psi, and torque is force times a lever arm, such as N·m or lbf·ft. Those have their own converters; this one handles a single force only, and it cannot turn lbf into psi without an area.

Why do kN and lbf values look so different?

A pound-force is small, only about 4.45 N, while a kilonewton is 1,000 N. So 1 kN is about 224.8 lbf, and 1,000 lbf is only 4.448 kN. Structural and engineering specs often switch between kN and kip (1,000 lbf), so check which one a drawing uses.