Skip to content
EntityQ1972579· pop 11· linked from 104 articles

Also known as pdl, lb ft/s²

The poundal (symbol: pdl) is a unit of force, introduced in 1877, that is part of the Absolute English system of units, which itself is a coherent subsystem of the foot–pound–second system.

Key facts

Unit.name
poundal
Unit.standard
Absolute English System
Unit.quantity
Force
Unit.symbol
pdl
Unit.units1
AE base units
Unit.inunits1
1 lb⋅ft/s2
Unit.units2
SI units
Unit.units3
CGS units
Unit.units4
British Gravitational System

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Show 3 more facts
conversion to SI unit
0.138254954376
unit symbol
باوندال
Wikidata SPARQL query equivalent
wd:Q1972579 p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?source; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. ?item p:P2370/psn:P2370 [wikibase:quantityAmount ?target; wikibase:quantityUnit ?base]. BIND(?source / ?target as ?value)
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Article

4 sections
Contents
  • Background
  • Conversion
  • See also
  • References

The poundal (symbol: pdl) is a unit of force, introduced in 1877, that is part of the Absolute English system of units, which itself is a coherent subsystem of the foot–pound–second system. 1\,\text{pdl} = 1\,\text{lb}{\cdot}\text{ft}/\text{s}^2 The poundal is defined as the force necessary to accelerate 1 pound-mass at 1 foot per second squared. 1 pdl = exactly.

== Background == English units require re-scaling of either force or mass to eliminate a numerical proportionality constant in the equation F = ma. The poundal represents one choice, which is to rescale units of force. Since a pound of force (pound force) accelerates a pound of mass (pound mass) at 32.174 049 ft/s2 (9.80665 m/s2; the acceleration of gravity, g), we can scale down the unit of force to compensate, giving us one that accelerates 1 pound mass at 1 ft/s2 rather than at 32.174 049 ft/s2; and that is the poundal, which is approximately pound force.

Connections

Categories