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dyne

Convert between dynes and other major units of force.

Convert between dynes per square centimeter and other major units of pressure.

Convert between dyne centimeters and other major units of torque.

The unit of force in the centimeter-gram-second absolute system, the force which imparts an acceleration of 1 centimeter per second per second to a body having a mass of 1 gram. Symbol, dyn. In SI units, one dyne = 10⁻⁵ newton.

The name was first proposed in 1873 in the first report¹ of the British Assn. for the Advancement of Science's Committee for the Selection and Nomenclature of Dynamical and Electrical Units.

According to the current national standard in the United States², the dyne is not to be used. The newton should be used instead.

1. We provide the report here.

2. IEEE/ASTM SI 10™-2002.
American National Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System.
New York: IEEE, 1 August 2011.

See Section 3.3.3.

sources

L'unité C. G. S. de force ou dyne, indispensable pour l'établissement des unités électriques, n'est pas encore employée en pratique, où les forces sont exprimées en fonction des poids. Il importe donc d'établir la relation qui lie l'unité C. G. S. de force ou dyne à l'unité pratique ou poids du gramme.

The C. G. S. unit of force, or dyne, which is indispensible for the establishment of electrical units, is not yet employed in practice; forces are generally expressed as in terms of weights. It is thus important to establish the relations which unite the C. G. S. unit of force, or dyne, to the practical unit, or weight of the gramme.

Édouard Hospitalier.
Formulaire Pratique de l'Electricien.
Paris: G. Masson, 1883.
Page 31. Contemporary translation by Gordon Wigan.