A kip is a US customary unit of

force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a ...

. It equals 1000

pounds-force The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system. Pound-force should not be confused with pound- ...

, and is used primarily by

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...

s to indicate forces where the value represented in pound-force is inefficient. Although uncommon, it is occasionally also considered a unit of

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

, equal to 1000 pounds (i.e. one half of a

short ton The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The var ...

). Another use is as a unit of deadweight to compute shipping charges. :1 kip = 4448.2216 N = 4.4482216 kN The name comes from combining the words ''kilo'' and ''pound''; it is occasionally called a kilopound. Its symbol is kip, sometimes K (upper or lowercase), or less frequently, klb. When it is necessary to clearly distinguish it as a unit of force rather than mass, it is sometimes called the ''kip-force'' (symbol kipf or klbf). The symbol kp usually stands for the ''kilopond'', a unit of force, or

kilogram-force The kilogram-force (kgf or kgF), or kilopond (kp, from la, pondus, lit=weight), is a non-standard gravitational metric unit of force. It does not comply with the International System of Units (SI) and is deprecated for most uses. The kilogram-f ...

, used primarily in Europe prior to the introduction of SI units. The kip is also the name of a unit of mass equal to approximately 9.19

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquiall ...

s. This usage is obsolete, and was used in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malay ...

References

Units of force Units of mass Customary units of measurement in the United States {{United States Customary Units

See also

References