Kilonewtons to Millinewtons (kN to mN)

1 kilonewton equals 1,000,000 millinewtons exactly.

1 kilonewton = 1,000,000 millinewtons

How to convert kilonewtons to millinewtons

To convert kilonewtons to millinewtons, multiply the number of kilonewtons by 1,000,000. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply millinewtons by 0.000001.

millinewtons = kilonewtons × 1,000,000

Example: 10 kilonewtons = 10,000,000 millinewtons.

About these units

Kilonewton (kN)

Metric (SI)Current unit

1,000 newtons. Used for structural loads, climbing gear ratings and engine thrust.

Kilonewtons exist because the newton is small. The prefix kilo- dates to the 1795 French decimal system and means one thousand, and attaching it to the newton, which the CGPM named in 1948, gives a unit sized for the loads that engineers actually handle. A kilonewton is 1,000 newtons.

One kilonewton is the weight of roughly 102 kilograms at standard gravity, or about 510 of the 200-gram apples that make a handy picture of a single newton. Structural engineers quote building and bridge loads this way, and rocket and jet engine makers quote thrust in kilonewtons and meganewtons. Each Space Shuttle solid rocket booster produced 3,300,000 pounds-force, or 14.7 meganewtons, which is 14,700 kilonewtons. Strengths of ropes, anchors and climbing hardware are also commonly given in the unit.

1 kilonewton = 1,000 newtons (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Newton (unit); Wikipedia: Metric prefix; Wikipedia: Pound (force)

Millinewton (mN)

Metric (SI)Current unit

One thousandth of a newton. Used for very small forces.

At the other end of the scale, a millinewton is one thousandth of a newton, a force so small that an apple weighing 200 g, which Wikipedia puts at about 1.96 N, would press down with nearly two thousand of them. The unit is the SI multiple 10^-3 N, formed with the prefix milli, and it suits measurements of delicate forces in laboratory work.

The abbreviation mN also appears in a closely related but different quantity. Surface tension is a force per unit length, so it is quoted in millinewtons per metre, and water at 20 degrees Celsius comes to about 72.8 mN/m. That figure equals 72.8 dyn/cm in the older centimetre-gram-second system, since one dyne per centimetre and one millinewton per metre are the same. In plain force terms, 1 mN is 100 dynes, or about 0.0000102 kilogram-force.

1 millinewton = 0.001 newtons (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Newton (unit); Wikipedia: Surface tension

Related conversions

See all force units.