What this converter does
This converter turns kips per foot into kilonewtons per metre and back instantly. It also covers N/m, lb/ft and lb/in — every pair uses an exact fixed factor. Type a value, pick your units, and read the result as you type.
A kip per foot is 14.594 kN/m. US design uses kip/ft; SI codes use kN/m. For a point force, see the kip to kN converter.
The units it covers
Every unit measures a line (distributed) load, converting through the newton-per-metre with a fixed ratio.
View all units & their values
| Unit | Symbol | Value | Mainly used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilonewton per metre | kN/m | 1000 | SI line load |
| Newton per metre | N/m | 1 | SI base line load |
| Kip per foot | kip/ft | 14593.9 | US line load |
| Pound per foot | lb/ft | 14.5939 | Light US line load |
| Pound per inch | lb/in | 175.127 | US detailing |
The formula
Each unit has a fixed value in newtons per metre, so any conversion goes through the N/m once:
result = value × factor_from ÷ factor_toWhere:
- value = the number you typed, in the “from” unit
- factor_from = the “from” unit’s value in newtons per metre
- factor_to = the “to” unit’s value in newtons per metre
Worked example
Convert 2 kip/ft to kN/m.
1 kip/ft = 14.5939 kN/m2 × 14.5939 = 29.19 kN/mSo a 2 kip/ft line load is about 29.2 kN/m.
The units in this example
A US line-load unit — one kip over each foot of span — used for beam, girder and wall loads.
- 1 kip/ft ≈ 14.594 kN/m
- 1 kip/ft = 1,000 lb/ft
- 1 kip/ft ≈ 83.33 lb/in
- 1 kip/ft ≈ 14,593.9 N/m
The SI line-load unit — a kilonewton per metre of length — standard in Eurocode structural design.
- 1 kN/m = 1,000 N/m
- 1 kN/m ≈ 0.06852 kip/ft
- 1 kN/m ≈ 68.52 lb/ft
- 1 kN/m ≈ 5.71 lb/in