Conversion method
Kilogram-force and pound-force use standard gravity of 9.80665 m/s². They measure force, not mass. A mass in kilograms does not convert directly to newtons without a chosen acceleration.
lbf = x × 0.2248089430997105
10 N = 2.248089 lbf.
| N | lbf |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.224809 |
| 5 | 1.124045 |
| 10 | 2.248089 |
| 25 | 5.620224 |
| 50 | 11.240447 |
| 100 | 22.480894 |
Unit definitions and sources
Pound-force and kilogram-force use standard gravity. Converting a mass to a force requires acceleration.
19 of the 26 definitions below were checked against the cited sources on 2026-09-20 (AI-assisted check).
| Unit and system | Use | Definition | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newton (N); si | Common units | Newton measures force. n = (value in N) × 1. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Kilonewton (kN); si | Common units | Kilonewton measures force. n = (value in kN) × 1000. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Dyne (dyn); other | Common units | Dyne measures force. n = (value in dyn) × 0.00001. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Pound-force (lbf); us | Common units | Pound-force measures force. n = (value in lbf) × 4.4482216152605. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Ounce-force (ozf); us | Common units | Ounce-force measures force. n = (value in ozf) × 0.2780138509537812. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Kilogram-force (kgf); metric | Common units | Kilogram-force measures force. n = (value in kgf) × 9.80665. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Kip (kip); us | Common units | Kip measures force. n = (value in kip) × 4448.2216152605. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Exanewton (EN); si | Specialist units | exanewton: E denotes 10^18; the unit gives 1000000000000000000 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Petanewton (PN); si | Specialist units | petanewton: P denotes 10^15; the unit gives 1000000000000000 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Teranewton (TN); si | Specialist units | teranewton: T denotes 10^12; the unit gives 1000000000000 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Giganewton (GN); si | Specialist units | giganewton: G denotes 10^9; the unit gives 1000000000 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Meganewton (MN); si | Specialist units | meganewton: M denotes 10^6; the unit gives 1000000 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Hectonewton (hN); si | Specialist units | hectonewton: h denotes 10^2; the unit gives 100 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Decanewton (daN); si | Specialist units | decanewton: da denotes 10^1; the unit gives 10 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Decinewton (dN); si | Specialist units | decinewton: d denotes 10^-1; the unit gives 0.1 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Centinewton (cN); si | Specialist units | centinewton: c denotes 10^-2; the unit gives 0.01 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Millinewton (mN); si | Specialist units | millinewton: m denotes 10^-3; the unit gives 0.001 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Micronewton (µN); si | Specialist units | micronewton: µ denotes 10^-6; the unit gives 0.000001 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Nanonewton (nN); si | Specialist units | nanonewton: n denotes 10^-9; the unit gives 1e-9 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Piconewton (pN); si | Specialist units | piconewton: p denotes 10^-12; the unit gives 1e-12 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Femtonewton (fN); si | Specialist units | femtonewton: f denotes 10^-15; the unit gives 1e-15 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Attonewton (aN); si | Specialist units | attonewton: a denotes 10^-18; the unit gives 1e-18 n. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Gram-force (gf); other | Specialist units | gram-force = 0.00980665 n, derived from the component SI/customary definitions. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Joule/meter (J/(m)); other | Specialist units | joule/meter = 1.0 n, derived from the component SI/customary definitions. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Joule/centimeter (J/(cm)); other | Specialist units | joule/centimeter = 100.0 n, derived from the component SI/customary definitions. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
| Pound foot/square second (lb·ft/(s²)); other | Specialist units | pound foot/square second = 0.13825495437600002 n, derived from the component SI/customary definitions. Common use: Mechanical loads. | Exact definition; numerical display may be rounded |
Sources: BIPM: International System of Units; NIST: SP 811 Appendix B.8: conversion factors; BIPM: SI prefixes
Precision of force conversions
All 26 force units convert through Newton (N). 26 have an exact defined relationship to the base unit and 0 are conventional or measured values. Results and the tables on this page come from the same engine, so a table value can be checked against the converter directly.
Standard display shows up to six decimal places, switching to scientific notation for very large or small values. Calculation uses JavaScript binary floating point independently of display rounding, so extra digits are not a claim about measurement accuracy. Each unit lists its own source; a citation records where the definition comes from, not an independent review. See Conversion methodology for the review and correction process.