Convert dynamic viscosity units — Pascal-second, Poise, centipoise, lb/(ft·s) and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Pa·s | Pascal-second | 0.001 |
| P | Poise | 0.01 |
| lb/(ft·s) | Pound/(Foot·Second) | 0.00067197076 |
| kg/(m·s) | Kilogram/(Meter·Second) | 0.001 |
| mPa·s | Millipascal-second | 1 |
Formula: Millipascal-second = Centipoise × 1
Multiply any Centipoise value by 1 to get Millipascal-second.
Reverse: Centipoise = Millipascal-second × 1
Water reference (20°C): 1.002 cP = 1.002 mPa·s
Values at ~20°C unless noted. Factor: 1 cP = 1 mPa·s
| Centipoise (cP) | Millipascal-second (mPa·s) | Fluid |
|---|---|---|
| 0.018 cP | 0.018 mPa·s | Air (20°C) |
| 1.002 cP | 1.002 mPa·s | Water (20°C) |
| 1.2 cP | 1.2 mPa·s | Ethanol |
| 3.5 cP | 3.5 mPa·s | Blood (37°C) |
| 65 cP | 65 mPa·s | SAE 10W motor oil |
| 84 cP | 84 mPa·s | Olive oil |
| 200 cP | 200 mPa·s | Maple syrup |
| 300 cP | 300 mPa·s | SAE 30 motor oil |
| 5000 cP | 5000 mPa·s | Honey |
| 5e+04 cP | 5e+04 mPa·s | Ketchup |
| 1e+05 cP | 1e+05 mPa·s | Molten glass (700°C) |
| 2.5e+05 cP | 2.5e+05 mPa·s | Peanut butter |
| 3e+07 cP | 3e+07 mPa·s | Tar (room temp) |
| 2.300e+11 cP | 2.300e+11 mPa·s | Pitch (20°C) |
cP = mPa·s exactly. No conversion needed.
1 cP = 1 mPa·s — they are the same physical quantity.
Use cP in industry; mPa·s in SI-compliant documentation.
Specifies oil viscosity in cP or mPa·s for formulation and quality control of lubricants.
Uses Pa·s and cP for pipeline flow calculations, pump design, and mixing operations.
Measures sauce, syrup, and dough viscosity in cP for texture optimization and process control.
Controls drug formulation viscosity in mPa·s for injectables, topical creams, and oral suspensions.
Specifies paint, ink, and adhesive viscosity in cP for application equipment compatibility.
Characterizes polymer melt viscosity in Pa·s for extrusion and injection molding process design.
The centipoise (cP) equals 0.01 Poise = 0.001 Pa·s = 1 mPa·s. It is the dominant dynamic viscosity unit in industry because water at 20°C ≈ 1.002 cP — making it the most intuitive reference. The cP is numerically identical to mPa·s.
cP is used universally in lubricant specifications, food processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, coating technology, and chemical engineering. Ink viscosity: 10–50 cP; blood: 3–4 cP; olive oil: 80–84 cP; maple syrup: 150–300 cP; honey: 2,000–10,000 cP.
Interesting fact: The viscosity of blood (3–4 cP) being about 3–4× that of water is critical to cardiovascular physiology. Conditions like polycythemia (excess red blood cells) can raise blood viscosity to 8–10 cP, significantly increasing the workload on the heart.
Millipascal-second (mPa·s) equals exactly 1 centipoise (cP) = 0.001 Pa·s. It is the preferred SI notation for the centipoise, used in pharmaceutical, food, and chemical industries that require SI-compliant units while retaining the convenient water = 1 value.
mPa·s = cP numerically, making conversion trivial. EU pharmacopoeias and food regulations increasingly specify viscosity in mPa·s. Pharmaceutical injections must be within specific mPa·s ranges for safe administration. Many modern viscometer readouts display in mPa·s.
Interesting fact: The equivalence cP = mPa·s is exact by definition. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recommends mPa·s as the preferred SI expression of centipoise — allowing modern data tables to be SI-compliant while remaining numerically compatible with decades of cP data.
Dynamic viscosity measures a fluid's resistance to flow. The SI unit is Pa·s (= kg/(m·s)); cP and mPa·s are numerically identical and most widely used; P (Poise) is the CGS unit. Key anchor: water at 20°C ≈ 1 cP = 1 mPa·s = 0.001 Pa·s = 0.01 P.
Exact factor: 1 cP = 1 mPa·s. Reverse: 1 mPa·s = 1 cP.
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.