Convert Centinewtons to Poundal

Convert Centinewtons (cN) to Poundal (pdl) instantly and accurately.

Conversion Formula

pdl = cN × 0.07233013851

About Centinewtons

A centinewton (cN) is exactly 0.01 N - the standard force unit of the textile industry. ISO and ASTM specs give fibre tenacity in cN/tex (centinewtons per tex, where 1 tex = 1 g/km): high-tenacity polyester 70-80 cN/tex; Kevlar/Twaron para-aramid 200-250 cN/tex; Dyneema/Spectra UHMWPE >350 cN/tex. Sewing thread breaking strength is 200-800 cN. Packaging tensile testers, adhesive peel-force instruments, and fine spring calibrators all report in cN. 1 cN ≈ 1 pond (0.980665 cN). 100 cN = 1 N.

About Poundal

The poundal (pdl) is the force unit of the foot-pound-second absolute system - the force to accelerate 1 pound at 1 ft/s² - approximately 0.1383 N. Introduced in 1877 by Thomson and Tait as the FPS analogue of the CGS dyne (1 dyn = 1 g·cm/s²; 1 pdl = 1 lb·ft/s²). The poundal is distinct from pound-force: since standard gravity = 32.174 ft/s², 1 lbf = 32.174 pdl. It survives in older British engineering texts and early 20th-century thermodynamics literature, but is otherwise obsolete. 1 pdl = 0.138254954376 N = 1/32.174 lbf.

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