Kip
1,000 pounds-force (4.448 kN). Used for structural loads in US engineering.
1 kip = 4,448.221615 newtons (approximately).
About the kip
Structural engineers in the United States wanted a force unit that avoided long strings of digits, and so they joined kilo and pound into kip, sometimes called a kilopound. One kip equals 1,000 pounds-force, which is about 4,448 newtons or 4.448 kilonewtons. Writing kipf or klbf makes plain that force, and not mass, is meant.
Because a pound-force is the weight of one avoirdupois pound under standard gravity, 4.4482216152605 N, the kip carries that definition with it and does not vary with local gravity. A beam design might list a column load as 150 kips instead of 150,000 lbf, and stress is often given in kips per square inch, abbreviated ksi.
Shipping also uses the term as a deadweight unit. Rarely, kip has meant a mass of 1,000 pounds. An unrelated obsolete Malaysian kip of roughly 9.19 kg also existed. In SI practice kips are replaced by kilonewtons.
Sources: Wikipedia: Kip (unit); Wikipedia: Pound (force)
Kip conversion chart
1 kip expressed in every other force unit:
| Unit | 1 kip |
|---|---|
| Newtons | 4,448.221615 |
| Kilonewtons | 4.448221615 |
| Pounds-force | 1,000 |
| Kilograms-force | 453.59237 |
| Meganewtons | 0.004448221615 |
| Millinewtons | 4,448,221.615 |
| Ounces-force | 16,000 |
| Grams-force | 453,592.37 |
| Poundals | 32,174.04856 |
| Dynes | 444,822,161.5 |
| Tons-force (short) | 0.5 |
| Tons-force (long) | 0.4464285714 |
| Tonnes-force | 0.45359237 |
| Sthènes | 4.448221615 |
More US customary units
- ton-force (short) (force)
- short ton (weight & mass)
- hundredweight (US) (weight & mass)
- slug (weight & mass)
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- US quart (volume)
- US pint (volume)
- US cup (volume)
- US fluid ounce (volume)
- US tablespoon (volume)
- US teaspoon (volume)
- US gill (volume)
- US fluid dram (volume)
- US minim (volume)
- US legal cup (volume)
- US bushel (volume)
Browse all force units.