Convert dynamic viscosity units — Pascal-second, Poise, centipoise, lb/(ft·s) and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Pa·s | Pascal-second | 0.1 |
| cP | Centipoise | 100 |
| lb/(ft·s) | Pound/(Foot·Second) | 0.067197076 |
| kg/(m·s) | Kilogram/(Meter·Second) | 0.1 |
| mPa·s | Millipascal-second | 100 |
Formula: Centipoise = Poise × 100
Multiply any Poise value by 100 to get Centipoise.
Reverse: Poise = Centipoise × 0.01
Water reference (20°C): 0.01002 P = 1.002 cP
Values at ~20°C unless noted. Factor: 1 P = 100 cP
| Poise (P) | Centipoise (cP) | Fluid |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00018 P | 0.018 cP | Air (20°C) |
| 0.01002 P | 1.002 cP | Water (20°C) |
| 0.012 P | 1.2 cP | Ethanol |
| 0.035 P | 3.5 cP | Blood (37°C) |
| 0.65 P | 65 cP | SAE 10W motor oil |
| 0.84 P | 84 cP | Olive oil |
| 2 P | 200 cP | Maple syrup |
| 3 P | 300 cP | SAE 30 motor oil |
| 50 P | 5000 cP | Honey |
| 500 P | 5e+04 cP | Ketchup |
| 1000 P | 1e+05 cP | Molten glass (700°C) |
| 2500 P | 2.5e+05 cP | Peanut butter |
| 3e+05 P | 3e+07 cP | Tar (room temp) |
| 2.300e+09 P | 2.300e+11 cP | Pitch (20°C) |
Poise × 100 = cP.
1 P = 100 cP. 0.01 P = 1 cP (water).
cP ÷ 100 = Poise.
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 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.
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.
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 P = 100 cP. Reverse: 1 cP = 0.01 P.
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.