Pound-foot (torque)

Not to be confused with Foot-pound (energy).

A pound-foot (lb⋅ft), abbreviated from pound-force foot (lbf · ft), is a unit of torque representing one pound of force acting at a perpendicular distance of one foot from a pivot point.^[2] Conversely one foot pound-force (ft · lbf) is the moment about an axis that applies one pound-force at a radius of one foot.

pound-foot
Unit system	British Gravitational System, English Engineering Units
Unit of	Torque
Symbol	lbf⋅ft, lb-ft
Conversions
1 lbf⋅ft in ...	... is equal to ...
SI units	≈ 1.355818 N⋅m[1]
Gravitational metric system	≈ 0.1382550 kgf⋅m

Unit

The value in Système International (SI) units is given by multiplying the following exact factors:

One pound (mass) = 0.45359237 kilograms^[1]

Standard gravity = 9.80665 m/s^2[1]

One foot = 0.3048 m^[1]

This gives the exact conversion factor:

One pound-foot = 1.3558179483314004 newton metres.

The name "pound-foot", intended to minimize confusion with the foot-pound as a unit of work, was apparently first proposed by British physicist Arthur Mason Worthington.^[3]

Despite this, in practice torque units are commonly called the foot-pound (denoted as either lb-ft or ft-lb) or the inch-pound (denoted as in-lb).^[4][5] Practitioners depend on context and the hyphenated abbreviations to know that these refer to neither energy nor moment of mass (as the symbol ft-lb rather than lbf-ft would imply).

Similarly, an inch-pound (or pound-inch) is the torque of one pound of force applied to one inch of distance from the pivot, and is equal to 1⁄12 lbf⋅ft (0.1129848 N⋅m). It is commonly used on torque wrenches and torque screwdrivers for setting specific fastener tension.

See also

• Kilogram metre (torque) (kgf⋅m)

References

1. Butcher, Kenneth; Crown, Linda; Gentry, Elizabeth J. (May 2006), "The International System of Units (SI) – Conversion Factors for General Use" (PDF), NIST Special Publication 1038, archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-05-30
2. Pickerill, Ken (2009). Today's Technician: Automotive Engine Performance Classroom Manual and Shop Manual (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1111782382.
3. Arthur Mason Worthington (1900). Dynamics of rotation : an elementary introduction to rigid dynamics (3rd ed.). Longmans, Green, and Co. p. 9.
4. "Dial Torque Wrenches from Grainger". Grainger. 2020. In most US industrial settings, the torque ranges are given in ft-lb rather than lbf-ft.
5. Erjavec, Jack (22 January 2010). Manual Transmissions & Transaxles: Classroom manual. Cengage Learning. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-4354-3933-7.