Poundals to Kilonewtons (pdl to kN)

1 poundal equals 0.0001382549544 kilonewtons (rounded).

1 poundal = 0.0001382549544 kilonewtons

How to convert poundals to kilonewtons

To convert poundals to kilonewtons, multiply the number of poundals by 0.0001382549544. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply kilonewtons by 7,233.013851 (rounded).

kilonewtons = poundals × 0.0001382549544

Example: 10 poundals = 0.001382549544 kilonewtons.

About these units

Poundal (pdl)

Imperial (British)Historical unit (no longer in standard use)

About 0.138255 newtons: the force that accelerates one pound by one foot per second squared. The imperial absolute unit of force.

Introduced in 1877, the poundal was built to solve a bookkeeping annoyance in the foot-pound-second system. It is the force that gives a one-pound mass an acceleration of one foot per second squared, so Newton's second law F = ma works with no extra constant. Wikipedia does not name who proposed it. The value is exactly 0.138254954376 N, derived from the international foot and pound.

Compared with the pound-force, the poundal is small, about 0.03108 of it, or roughly one thirty-second, because gravity at the surface gives 32.174 ft/s2. Its appeal is that it does not depend on gravity, so it works equally on the Moon or in deep space. A 150 lb mass accelerated at 8 ft/s2 needs 1,200 poundals, for example. The alternative cure for the same problem is the slug, a mass unit of about 32 lb used with pound-force. Both approaches saw little industrial use, and today the poundal mostly survives in textbooks and conversion tables.

1 poundal = 0.1382549544 newtons (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Poundal; Wikipedia: Pound (force); NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8

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)

Related conversions

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