What this converter does
This converter turns kips into kilonewtons and back instantly. It also handles newtons, pound-force, kilogram-force and tonne-force — every pair uses an exact fixed factor. Type a value, pick your units, and read the result as you type.
A kip is 1,000 pound-force = 4.4482 kN. US structural drawings use kips; the rest of the world uses kilonewtons. For stress rather than force, see the ksi to MPa converter.
The units it covers
Every unit here measures force, converting through the kilonewton with a fixed ratio.
View all units & their values
| Unit | Symbol | Value | Mainly used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilonewton | kN | 1 | SI structural force |
| Newton | N | 0.001 | Small forces |
| Kip | kip | 4.4482 | US structural loads |
| Pound-force | lbf | 0.004448 | US small forces |
| Kilogram-force | kgf | 0.009807 | Legacy metric force |
| Tonne-force | tf | 9.80665 | Heavy metric loads |
The formula
Each unit has a fixed value in kilonewtons, so any conversion goes through the kN once:
result = value × factor_from ÷ factor_toWhere:
- value = the number you typed, in the “from” unit
- factor_from = the “from” unit’s value in kilonewtons
- factor_to = the “to” unit’s value in kilonewtons
Worked example
Convert 25 kips to kilonewtons.
1 kip = 4.4482 kN25 × 4.4482 = 111.2 kNSo a 25 kip load is about 111.2 kilonewtons.
The units in this example
A US structural unit equal to 1,000 pound-force, used for column loads, beam reactions and connection forces.
- 1 kip = 1,000 lbf
- 1 kip ≈ 4.448 kN
- 1 kip ≈ 453.6 kgf
- 1 kip ≈ 0.4536 tonne-force
The SI force unit for structures — 1,000 newtons, about the weight of 102 kilograms under gravity.
- 1 kN = 1,000 N
- 1 kN ≈ 0.2248 kip
- 1 kN ≈ 224.8 lbf
- 1 kN ≈ 0.102 tonne-force