Convert dynamic viscosity units — Pascal-second, Poise, centipoise, lb/(ft·s) and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Formula: Poise = lb/(ft·s) × 14.88
Multiply any lb/(ft·s) value by 14.88 to get Poise.
Reverse: lb/(ft·s) = Poise × 0.0672
Water reference (20°C): 0.0006733 lb/(ft·s) = 0.01002 P
Values at ~20°C unless noted. Factor: 1 lb/(ft·s) = 14.88 P
| lb/(ft·s) (lb/(ft·s)) | Poise (P) | Fluid |
|---|---|---|
| 1.210e-05 lb/(ft·s) | 0.00018 P | Air (20°C) |
| 0.0006733 lb/(ft·s) | 0.01002 P | Water (20°C) |
| 0.0008064 lb/(ft·s) | 0.012 P | Ethanol |
| 0.002352 lb/(ft·s) | 0.035 P | Blood (37°C) |
| 0.04368 lb/(ft·s) | 0.65 P | SAE 10W motor oil |
| 0.05645 lb/(ft·s) | 0.84 P | Olive oil |
| 0.1344 lb/(ft·s) | 2 P | Maple syrup |
| 0.2016 lb/(ft·s) | 3 P | SAE 30 motor oil |
| 3.36 lb/(ft·s) | 50 P | Honey |
| 33.6 lb/(ft·s) | 500 P | Ketchup |
| 67.2 lb/(ft·s) | 1000 P | Molten glass (700°C) |
| 168 lb/(ft·s) | 2500 P | Peanut butter |
| 2.016e+04 lb/(ft·s) | 3e+05 P | Tar (room temp) |
| 1.546e+08 lb/(ft·s) | 2.300e+09 P | Pitch (20°C) |
1 lb/(ft·s) = 14.88 P.
Water at 20°C ≈ 1 cP = 1 mPa·s = 0.001 Pa·s = 0.01 P. Use as reference.
Multiply result by 0.0672 to recover the original lb/(ft·s) value.
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.
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.
The Poise (P) is the CGS unit of dynamic viscosity, equal to 1 dyne·s/cm² = 0.1 Pa·s. It was named after Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, the French physician who first quantified viscous flow through tubes (1838–1840), establishing what became Poiseuille's law of flow.
The Poise was the standard viscosity unit before SI adoption. Water at 20°C = 0.01002 P ≈ 0.01 P = 1 cP. The centipoise became preferred because it gives water a value of ~1, making comparisons intuitive. Many older fluid data tables use Poise.
Interesting fact: Poiseuille was a physician, not a physicist, and he developed his viscosity measurements to understand blood flow through capillaries. His 1838 paper on capillary flow remains the foundation of microfluidics and cardiovascular fluid dynamics.
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) = 14.88 P. Reverse: 1 P = 0.0672 lb/(ft·s).
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.