• Question: What is the unit of measure for force?

    Asked by happy to Chris, Josh, Rebecca, Rob, Susan on 23 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Josh Meyers

      Josh Meyers answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      The unit of force is called a Newton.

      where 1 Newton (N) = 1 kg x (m/(s^2))

      This can be derived from Newtons second law: F = ma

    • Photo: Susan Cartwright

      Susan Cartwright answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      In the SI metric system, the unit of force is the newton (N). One newton is the force that would give a mass of 1 kg an acceleration of 1 m/s^2.

      There are other units of force. In the older cgs metric system, the unit of force was the dyne. One dyne is the force that would give a mass of 1 g an acceleration of 1 cm/s^2. So 100000 dynes = 1 N. In the imperial system, the unit of force was the pound-force (lbf), which is the force exerted by gravity on a mass of one pound; 1 lbf = 4.448 N (1/2.2 kg * 9.81 m/s^2).

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