Orders of magnitude (force)

The following list shows different orders of magnitude of force.

Examples of force.

Since weight under gravity is a force, several of these examples refer to the weight of various objects. Unless otherwise stated, these are weights under average Earth gravity at sea level.

Below 1 N

Factor (N)	Value	Item
10−47	3.6×10−17 qN	Gravitational attraction of the proton and the electron in hydrogen atom[1]
10−30 quectonewton (qN)	8.9 qN	Weight of an electron[1]
10−26	16 rN	Weight of a hydrogen atom[1]
10−24 yoctonewton (yN)	5 yN	Force necessary to synchronize the motion of a single trapped ion with an external signal measured in a 2010 experiment[2][3]
10−22	170 yN	Force measured in a 2010 experiment by perturbing 60 beryllium-9 ions[4][5]
10−18 attonewton (aN)
10−17	30 aN	Smallest force of gravity measured[6][7]
10−15 femtonewton (fN)
10−14	~10 fN	Brownian motion force on an E. coli bacterium averaged over 1 second[8]
	~10 fN	Weight of an E. coli bacterium[9][10]
10−13	~100 fN	Force to stretch double-stranded DNA to 50% relative extension[8]
10−12 piconewton (pN)	~4 pN	Force to break a hydrogen bond[8]
	~5 pN	Maximum force of a molecular motor[8]
10−11
10−10	~160 pN	Force to break a typical noncovalent bond[8]
10−9 nanonewton (nN)	~1.6 nN	Force to break a typical covalent bond[8]
10−8	~82nN	Force on an electron in a hydrogen atom[1]
10−7	~200nN	Force between two 1 meter long conductors, 1 meter apart by an outdated definition of one ampere
10−6 micronewton (μN)	1–150 μN	Output of FEEP ion thrusters used in NASA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna[11]
10−4
10−3 millinewton (mN)	2-4 mN	EQUULEUS § Propulsion
10−2	19-92 mN	Thrust of the NSTAR ion engine tested on NASA's space probe Deep Space 1[12]
10−1

1 N and above

Magnitude	Value	Item
1 N	1.4 N	The weight of a smartphone[13][14]
	2.5 N	Typical thrust of a Dual-Stage 4-Grid ion thruster.
	9.8 N	One kilogram-force, nominal weight of a 1 kg (2.2 lb) object at sea level on Earth[15]
10 N	50 N	Average force to break the shell of a chicken egg from a young hen[16]
102 N	720 N	Average force of human bite, measured at molars[17]
103 N kilonewton (kN)	5 kN	The force applied by the engine of a small car during peak acceleration[citation needed]
	8 kN	The maximum force achieved by weight lifters during a 'clean and jerk' lift[18] (During the clean part)
	9 kN	The bite force of one adult American alligator[19]
104 N	16.5 kN	The bite force of a 5.2 m (17 ft) saltwater crocodile[20]
	18 kN	The estimated bite force of a 6.1 m (20 ft) adult great white shark[21]
	25 kN	Approximate force applied by the motors of a Tesla Model S during maximal acceleration[22]
	25.5 to 34.5 kN	The estimated bite force of a large 6.7 m (22 ft) adult saltwater crocodile[23]
105 N	100 kN	The average force applied by seatbelt and airbag to a restrained passenger in a car which hits a stationary barrier at 100 km/h[24]
	569 kN	Maximum thrust of a large turbofan engine (General Electric GE90)
	890 kN	Maximum pulling force (tractive effort) of a single large diesel-electric locomotive[1]
106 N meganewton (MN)	1.8 MN	Thrust of Space Shuttle Main Engine at lift-off[25][26][27]
	1.9 MN	Weight of the largest Blue Whale[1]
107 N	35 MN	Thrust of Saturn V rocket at lift-off[28]
108 N	570 MN	Simplistic estimate of force of sunlight on Earth[29]
109 N giganewton (GN)
1020 N	200 EN	Gravitational attraction between Earth and Moon[30]
1022 N	35 ZN	Gravitational attraction between Earth and Sun[31]
1029 N	≈450 RN	Gravitational attraction between our Galaxy and Andromeda Galaxy[32]
1044 N	1.2×1014 QN	Planck force

Notes

1. Hugh D. Young, University Physics 4th Ed, 1992, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, Inc.
2. Knünz, S.; Herrmann, M.; Batteiger, V.; Saathoff, G.; Hänsch, T.; Vahala, K.; Udem, T. (2010). "Injection Locking of a Trapped-Ion Phonon Laser" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 105 (1): 013004. Bibcode:2010PhRvL.105a3004K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.013004. PMID 20867440.
3. "Single atoms for detecting extremely weak forces". Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. Archived from the original on 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
4. Brumfiel, G. (2010). "Scientists measure atomic nudge". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2010.187.
5. M. J. Biercuk; H. Uys; J. W. Britton; A. P. VanDevender; J. J. Bollinger (9 Apr 2010). "Ultrasensitive detection of force and displacement using trapped ions". Nature Nanotechnology. 5 (9): 646–650. arXiv:1004.0780. Bibcode:2010NatNa...5..646B. doi:10.1038/NNANO.2010.165. PMID 20729835. S2CID 119244588. detection of forces as small as 174 yN
6. Fuchs, Tim M.; Uitenbroek, Dennis G.; Plugge, Jaimy; van Halteren, Noud; van Soest, Jean-Paul; Vinante, Andrea; Ulbricht, Hendrik; Oosterkamp, Tjerk H. (2024-02-23). "Measuring gravity with milligram levitated masses". Science Advances. 10 (8). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adk2949. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 10889343. PMID 38394194.
7. "Scientists measure gravity in Attonewton — up to one billionth of a billionth of a Newton". WION. 2024-02-25. Archived from the original on 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
8. "Forces involved at the biological level". PicoTwist. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
9. "E. coli Statistics". The CyberCell Database. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
10. Calculated: weight = mass * g = 1e-15 kg * 9.81 m/s^2 = 1e-14 N
11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2009-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "NSTAR Ion Thruster". NASA. Archived from the original on 11 January 2003. Retrieved 9 January 2012. thrust from 19 mN to 92 mN
13. "How Much Does Your Smartphone Really Weigh?". 15 December 2016.
14. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3097/fs2006-3097.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
15. "Appendix B8—Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically". NIST Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI). NIST. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
16. Damme, Klaus (2020). Geflügeljahrbuch 2021. Stuttgart, Germany: Eugen Ulmer KG. pp. 262–281. ISBN 978-3-8186-1186-6.
17. Houston T E, Bite Force and Bite Pressure: Comparisons of Humans and Dogs, 2003 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2016-02-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. The Human Machine By R. McNeill Alexander, Mark Iley, Sally Alexander
19. Erickson, G. M.; Lappin, A. K.; Vliet, K. A. (2003). "The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)" (PDF). Journal of Zoology. 260 (3): 317. doi:10.1017/S0952836903003819. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-07. 9452 N
20. "Crocodiles Have Strongest Bite Ever Measured, Hands-on Tests Show". Retrieved 15 March 2012. The "winners"—saltwater crocodiles—slammed their jaws shut with 3,700 pounds per square inch (psi), or 16,460 newtons, of bite force.
21. "Great White Tops List of Hardest-Biting Sharks". Discovery News. Discovery Channel. Retrieved 21 January 2012. a bite force of 9,320 Newton at the tip of its jaws and 18,216 N at the back of its jaws
22. Calculated from maximum acceleration of 1.22 g and kerb mass of 2,050 kg (4,520 lb).
23. Erickson, Gregory M.; Gignac, Paul M.; Steppan, Scott J.; Lappin, A. Kristopher; Vliet, Kent A.; Brueggen, John D.; Inouye, Brian D.; Kledzik, David; Webb, Grahame J. W. (2012). "Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation". PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e31781. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...731781E. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031781. PMC 3303775. PMID 22431965. scientifically documented 6.7-meter long Crocodylus porosus individuals were likely capable of molariform bite forces of approximately 27,531 N to 34,424 N (6,187 to 7,736 lbs).
24. Lawrence Weinstein and John A. Adams, Guesstimation, 2008, Section 6.3.1
25. "Space Shuttle Main Engine". Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013. 109% power level at sea level: 418,000 lb
26. Wade, Mark. "SSME". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on June 26, 2002. Retrieved 27 October 2011. Launches normally used 104% ... as a maximum
27. Calculated: 418000 lbf * 4.45 N/lbf * (104% launch power level / 109%) = 1.77e6 N.
28. "What Was the Saturn V?". NASA. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2012. The rocket generated 34.5 million newtons ... of thrust at launch
29. 1.63 x 10⁻¹⁴ x gravitational attraction between Earth and Sun, assuming total absorption of sunlight Sunlight Exerts Pressure, NASA Glenn LTP Math & Science Resources
30. "The Earth-Moon Equations". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
31. NASA.gov
32. Calculated from known masses (both ×10¹² kg) at a distance of 2.5 Mly.

External links