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The newton (symbol: N) is the SI derived unit of force, named after Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on classical mechanics.
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The newton is the unit of force derived in the SI system; it is equal to the amount of force required to give a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of one metre per second squared. Algebraically:
| newton (SI unit) |
dyne | kilogram-force, kilopond |
pound-force | poundal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 N | ≡ 1 kg·m/s² | = 105 dyn | ≈ 0.10197 kp | ≈ 0.22481 lbf | ≈ 7.2330 pdl |
| 1 dyn | = 10−5 N | ≡ 1 g·cm/s² | ≈ 1.0197×10−6 kp | ≈ 2.2481×10−6 lbf | ≈ 7.2330×10−5 pdl |
| 1 kp | = 9.80665 N | = 980665 dyn | ≡ gn·(1 kg) | ≈ 2.2046 lbf | ≈ 70.932 pdl |
| 1 lbf | ≈ 4.448222 N | ≈ 444822 dyn | ≈ 0.45359 kp | ≡ gn·(1 lb) | ≈ 32.174 pdl |
| 1 pdl | ≈ 0.138255 N | ≈ 13825 dyn | ≈ 0.014098 kp | ≈ 0.031081 lbf | ≡ 1 lb·ft/s² |
| The value of gn as used in the official definition of the kilogram-force is used here for all gravitational units. | |||||
| System | Gravitational | Engineering | Absolute | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Force (F) | F = m·a | F = m·a/gc = w·a/g | F = m·a | |||
| Weight (w) | w = m·g | w = m·g/gc ≈ m | w = m·g | |||
| Units | English | Metric | English | Metric | English | Metric |
| Acceleration (a) | ft/s2 | m/s2 | ft/s2 | m/s2 | ft/s2 | m/s2 |
| Mass (m) | slug | hyl | pound-mass | kilogram | pound | kilogram |
| Force (F) | pound | newton | pound-force | newton | poundal | newton |