Dyne (dyn)
Exactly 10⁻⁵ newtons, the CGS unit of force: one gram-centimeter per second squared.
1 dyne = 0.00001 newtons (exactly).
About the dyne
Dyne derives from the Ancient Greek dynamis, meaning power or force. The name was first put forward in 1873 by a committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, a group that included James Clerk Maxwell and William Thomson, the future Lord Kelvin. They were choosing names for dynamical units built on the centimeter, gram and second, and the dyne became the force unit of that system.
By definition it is the force that gives a mass of one gram an acceleration of one centimeter per second squared. That is exactly 10 micronewtons, or 0.00001 newton, so 100,000 dynes make one newton. A kilogram-force is 980,665 dynes. Physicists still meet it in surface tension, where water at 25 degrees Celsius is about 72 dynes per centimeter. The pressure unit that goes with it is the barye, one dyne per square centimeter, and the unit of work is the erg.
Sources: Wikipedia: Dyne; Wikipedia: Centimetre-gram-second system of units; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8 conversion factors
Dyne conversion chart
1 dyne expressed in every other force unit:
| Unit | 1 dyne |
|---|---|
| Newtons | 0.00001 |
| Kilonewtons | 1×10⁻⁸ |
| Pounds-force | 0.000002248089431 |
| Kilograms-force | 0.000001019716213 |
| Meganewtons | 1×10⁻¹¹ |
| Millinewtons | 0.01 |
| Ounces-force | 0.0000359694309 |
| Grams-force | 0.001019716213 |
| Poundals | 0.00007233013851 |
| Kips | 2.248089431×10⁻⁹ |
| Tons-force (short) | 1.124044715×10⁻⁹ |
| Tons-force (long) | 1.003611353×10⁻⁹ |
| Tonnes-force | 1.019716213×10⁻⁹ |
| Sthènes | 1×10⁻⁸ |
More CGS & old metric units
- kilogram-force (force)
- gram-force (force)
- tonne-force (force)
- erg (energy)
- kilogram-force meter (energy)
- erg per second (power)
- technical atmosphere (pressure)
- barye (pressure)
Browse all force units.