What is a force converter?
A force converter is an online tool that lets you quickly and accurately convert between force units. It supports newtons, kilonewtons, pound-force, dynes and kilogram-force.
What is force?
Force is an interaction that causes an object to change its velocity, direction or shape. According to Newton's second law, force equals mass times acceleration (F = m × a). The SI unit of force is the newton (N), defined as the force needed to accelerate one kilogram by one meter per second squared.
What are the force conversion formulas?
Key force conversion formulas:
- 1 kilonewton (kN) = 1000 newtons (N)
- 1 kilogram-force (kgf) = 9.80665 newtons
- 1 pound-force (lbf) = 4.44822 newtons
- 1 dyne = 0.00001 newtons (10-5 N)
- 1 kilonewton = 101.972 kilogram-force
- 1 pound-force = 0.45359 kilogram-force
Force conversion examples
Body weight: 80 kgf = 784.53 N. The gravitational force on an 80 kg person at sea level.
Engineering: 50 kN = 5098.6 kgf. A typical load capacity for a structural beam.
Physics: 1,000,000 dynes = 10 N. Converting CGS units to SI for scientific calculations.
Newton and kilogram-force
The kilogram-force (kgf) is an older unit still used in many everyday contexts. One kilogram-force is the gravitational pull on a one-kilogram mass at standard gravity. While the newton is the official SI unit, kilogram-force remains common in gym equipment, elevator specifications and industrial machinery ratings.
When to use a force converter?
A force converter is useful in physics and engineering for solving problems involving different unit systems, in construction for calculating structural loads, and in everyday life for understanding specifications on equipment and machinery that may list force in various units.