Part of the IT standards and organizations glossary:

The dyne (dyn) is the centimeter-gram-second ( cgs ) unit of force . This unit is rarely used these days in the United States, but it is commonly found in older physics and engineering literature. Although still preferred by some scientists, its use is actively discouraged in some industries in favor of the newton (N), the unit of force that is part of the International System of Units ( SI ).

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One dyne is the force required to cause a mass of one gram to accelerate at a rate of one centimeter per second squared in the absence of other force-producing effects. To convert dynes to newtons, multiply by 0.00001 (10 -5 ). To convert newtons to dynes, multiply by 100,000 (10 5 ).

This was last updated in September 2005
Contributor(s): Cosy
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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  • force

    - Force is an action that causes a free object with nonzero, finite mass to accelerate, relative to a non-accelerating frame of reference. (WhatIs.com)

  • erg

    - The erg is the standard unit of energy in the centimeter-gram-second (cgs) or small-unit metric system. (WhatIs.com)

  • pressure

    - Pressure is an expression of force exerted on a surface per unit area. (WhatIs.com)

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