💧 lb/(ft·s) to kg/(m·s) — Pound/(Foot·Second) to Kilogram/(Meter·Second) Converter

Convert dynamic viscosity units — Pascal-second, Poise, centipoise, lb/(ft·s) and more.

1 unit =
From
To
Formula 1 lb/(ft·s) = 1.488 kg/(m·s)
UnitNameValue
Pa·s Pascal-second 1.48816
P Poise 14.8816
cP Centipoise 1488.16
kg/(m·s) Kilogram/(Meter·Second) 1.48816
mPa·s Millipascal-second 1488.16

Quick Answer

Formula: kg/(m·s) = lb/(ft·s) × 1.488

Multiply any lb/(ft·s) value by 1.488 to get kg/(m·s).

Reverse: lb/(ft·s) = kg/(m·s) × 0.672

Water reference (20°C): 0.0006733 lb/(ft·s) = 0.001002 kg/(m·s)

Worked Examples

Water (~1 cP)
0.0006733 lb/(ft·s) × 1.488 = 0.001002 kg/(m·s)
Water (~1 cP)
Olive oil (~84 cP)
0.05645 lb/(ft·s) × 1.488 = 0.084 kg/(m·s)
Olive oil (~84 cP)
Light honey (~5,000 cP)
3.36 lb/(ft·s) × 1.488 = 5 kg/(m·s)
Light honey (~5,000 cP)
Heavy oil (~100,000 cP)
67.2 lb/(ft·s) × 1.488 = 100 kg/(m·s)
Heavy oil (~100,000 cP)

Dynamic Viscosity of Common Fluids

Values at ~20°C unless noted. Factor: 1 lb/(ft·s) = 1.488 kg/(m·s)

lb/(ft·s) (lb/(ft·s))kg/(m·s) (kg/(m·s))Fluid
1.210e-05 lb/(ft·s)1.800e-05 kg/(m·s)Air (20°C)
0.0006733 lb/(ft·s)0.001002 kg/(m·s)Water (20°C)
0.0008064 lb/(ft·s)0.0012 kg/(m·s)Ethanol
0.002352 lb/(ft·s)0.0035 kg/(m·s)Blood (37°C)
0.04368 lb/(ft·s)0.065 kg/(m·s)SAE 10W motor oil
0.05645 lb/(ft·s)0.084 kg/(m·s)Olive oil
0.1344 lb/(ft·s)0.2 kg/(m·s)Maple syrup
0.2016 lb/(ft·s)0.3 kg/(m·s)SAE 30 motor oil
3.36 lb/(ft·s)5 kg/(m·s)Honey
33.6 lb/(ft·s)50 kg/(m·s)Ketchup
67.2 lb/(ft·s)100 kg/(m·s)Molten glass (700°C)
168 lb/(ft·s)250 kg/(m·s)Peanut butter
2.016e+04 lb/(ft·s)3e+04 kg/(m·s)Tar (room temp)
1.546e+08 lb/(ft·s)2.3e+08 kg/(m·s)Pitch (20°C)

Mental Math Tricks

Exact factor

1 lb/(ft·s) = 1.488 kg/(m·s).

Water anchor

Water at 20°C ≈ 1 cP = 1 mPa·s = 0.001 Pa·s = 0.01 P. Use as reference.

Reverse

Multiply result by 0.672 to recover the original lb/(ft·s) value.

Who Uses This Conversion?

Lubricant Engineer

Specifies oil viscosity in cP or mPa·s for formulation and quality control of lubricants.

Chemical Engineer

Uses Pa·s and cP for pipeline flow calculations, pump design, and mixing operations.

Food Scientist

Measures sauce, syrup, and dough viscosity in cP for texture optimization and process control.

Pharmaceutical Engineer

Controls drug formulation viscosity in mPa·s for injectables, topical creams, and oral suspensions.

Coatings Engineer

Specifies paint, ink, and adhesive viscosity in cP for application equipment compatibility.

Polymer Engineer

Characterizes polymer melt viscosity in Pa·s for extrusion and injection molding process design.

Frequently Asked Questions

About lb/(ft·s) and kg/(m·s)

lb/(ft·s) (lb/(ft·s))

Pound per foot per second (lb/(ft·s)) is the Imperial dynamic viscosity unit, equal to 1.48816 Pa·s. It is rarely used in modern practice but appears in older US engineering handbooks and some aerospace fluid specifications in the foot-pound-second system.

Water at 20°C ≈ 0.000672 lb/(ft·s). Air at 20°C ≈ 1.21×10⁻⁵ lb/(ft·s). The poundal-second per square foot (pdl·s/ft²) is sometimes confused with lb/(ft·s) — they differ by a factor of 32.174 (g). Most US engineering now uses cP even in Imperial contexts.

Interesting fact: Viscosity in Imperial units involves multiple conventions that confuse even experienced engineers. The slug/(ft·s) = 47.88 Pa·s is the viscosity unit consistent with pound-force; lb/(ft·s) uses pound-mass. These give numerically different values for the same fluid.

kg/(m·s) (kg/(m·s))

Kilogram per meter per second (kg/(m·s)) is numerically identical to the pascal-second (Pa·s), since 1 Pa·s = 1 N·s/m² = 1 kg/(m·s). Both express the same physical quantity. Some older engineering texts prefer kg/(m·s) to make the dimensional analysis explicit.

kg/(m·s) appears in some fluid mechanics textbooks and engineering reference tables, particularly older European texts. The equivalence Pa·s = kg/(m·s) is exact — they are the same unit expressed with different dimensional notation.

Interesting fact: The equivalence Pa·s = kg/(m·s) can be derived dimensionally: Pa = kg/(m·s²), so Pa·s = kg/(m·s). This makes dynamic viscosity dimensionally the same as linear momentum density — an elegant connection in continuum mechanics.

About lb/(ft·s) to kg/(m·s) Conversion

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 lb/(ft·s) = 1.488 kg/(m·s). Reverse: 1 kg/(m·s) = 0.672 lb/(ft·s).

All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.