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About LinkBackswhat is a newton meter?
August 8th, 2014, 11:41 AM
what is a newton meter?
A unit in mechanics that quantifies torque. Since the turning effect (leverage) of a force about a pivot point depends on the distance from the pivot that it is applied at, you can increase it either by increasing the Newtons of force applied or by making the same force act at a distance farther out from the pivot, thereby increasing its leverage. So, you measure torque in newtons x metres, called newton-metres.Originally Posted by ilike2pokypoky
A Newton-metre also means something else, which is an amount of mechanical work done. Work done is force x distance through which the force is exerted. So again this is measured in Newton-metres.
Please don't use Newton-meter as a unit of work. Please use Joules instead.
I know saying newton-meter might sound natural for expressing work (force * distance) but it gets confusing and the joule is already the designated unit for work.
I can see why one would want to avoid confusion between work and torque. On the other hand, if you do calculations involving work, you are going to end up with units of newtons multiplied by meters, and you will have to know that a newton-meter is equal to a joule.
In the English system, the corresponding units of work are foot-pounds. The units of torque are called pound-feet to make the distinction.
Good point, I should have added that 1 Nm of work = 1J.
…the joke being that the only people who still use the "English" system are now the AmericansI can see why one would want to avoid confusion between work and torque. On the other hand, if you do calculations involving work, you are going to end up with units of newtons multiplied by meters, and you will have to know that a newton-meter is equal to a joule.
In the English system, the corresponding units of work are foot-pounds. The units of torque are called pound-feet to make the distinction..
Nobody in the UK has used these units for a generation. We're all metric.
Not quite, when I used to work on aircraft the engineers always wanted measurements in "Christian units", i.e. pounds and inches, none of these heathen kilos or metres...
Apart from miles and pints!
(Oh, and try telling anyone your height in metres, see how far you get...)
It took us f*cking long enough.
Many years ago I was (surprise!) at an airshow and talking to some guys who were planning on building a WWI fighter from scratch (from memory it was a BrisFit).
They were going to work from a copy of the original manufacturing drawings (i.e dating from pre-1918).
Since I was, at that time, an apprentice draughtsman they let me see the drawings 1: every single drawing was metric!
1 I have no idea at all why me being a draftie or not should have made a genuine difference as to whether I was allowed to look, but, apparently, it did as far as they were concerned.
True, the aviation industry is very US oriented. I recall we used to pack aviation lubes in US gallon units rather than litres or kg as we did for everything else.
A device used to measure your Newtons (couldn't resist)
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