Convert kinematic viscosity units — m²/s, Stokes, centistokes, ft²/s and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| m²/s | Square Meter/Second | 0.0001 |
| St | Stokes | 1 |
| cSt | Centistokes | 100 |
| ft²/s | Square Foot/Second | 0.0010763915 |
| in²/s | Square Inch/Second | 0.15500031 |
Formula: in²/s = cm²/s × 0.155
Multiply any cm²/s value by 0.155 to get in²/s.
Reverse: cm²/s = in²/s × 6.452
Water reference (20°C): 0.01004 cm²/s = 0.001556 in²/s
Values at ~20°C unless noted. Factor: 1 cm²/s = 0.155 in²/s
| cm²/s (cm²/s) | in²/s (in²/s) | Fluid |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00015 cm²/s | 2.325e-05 in²/s | Air (20°C) |
| 0.005 cm²/s | 0.000775 in²/s | Petrol (gasoline) |
| 0.01004 cm²/s | 0.001556 in²/s | Water (20°C) |
| 0.015 cm²/s | 0.002325 in²/s | Ethanol |
| 0.03 cm²/s | 0.00465 in²/s | Diesel fuel |
| 0.35 cm²/s | 0.05425 in²/s | SAE 10W motor oil |
| 0.84 cm²/s | 0.1302 in²/s | Olive oil |
| 1 cm²/s | 0.155 in²/s | SAE 30 motor oil |
| 1.8 cm²/s | 0.279 in²/s | SAE 90 gear oil |
| 14.1 cm²/s | 2.186 in²/s | Glycerin (20°C) |
| 50 cm²/s | 7.75 in²/s | Honey |
| 80 cm²/s | 12.4 in²/s | Molasses |
| 500 cm²/s | 77.5 in²/s | Tomato ketchup |
| 2500 cm²/s | 387.5 in²/s | Peanut butter |
| 1.000e+19 cm²/s | 1.550e+18 in²/s | Glass (room temp) |
1 cm²/s = 0.155 in²/s.
Water at 20°C = 1 cSt = 0.01 St = 10⁻⁶ m²/s. Use as reference.
Multiply result by 6.452 to recover the original cm²/s value.
Specifies lubricant viscosity grades in cSt at 40°C and 100°C per ISO VG and SAE standards.
Uses kinematic viscosity in cSt for pipeline flow calculations, pump sizing, and heat exchanger design.
Measures crude oil and refined product viscosity in cSt for pipeline transport and refinery design.
Selects hydraulic fluids based on kinematic viscosity in cSt for pump compatibility and system efficiency.
Characterizes food product viscosity (honey, sauces, oils) in cSt for process design and quality control.
Uses ft²/s or cSt for atmospheric kinematic viscosity in Reynolds number calculations for aircraft design.
Square centimeter per second (cm²/s) equals exactly 1 Stokes — the CGS unit of kinematic viscosity. The equivalence cm²/s = St makes this unit important in older fluid mechanics literature and some industrial applications.
cm²/s = St is used in petroleum engineering viscometers, some lubricant standards, and pre-SI fluid mechanics texts. Water at 20°C = 0.01 cm²/s = 0.01 St = 1 cSt. Honey ≈ 500–10,000 cSt = 5–100 cm²/s.
Interesting fact: The Stokes unit is named after Sir George Gabriel Stokes, the Irish physicist who derived Stokes' Law (1851) describing the drag force on a sphere moving through a viscous fluid — the foundational equation for falling-sphere viscometers still used today.
Square inch per second (in²/s) is occasionally used in US precision engineering and hydraulic system specifications where inch-based units are standard. One in²/s = 6.4516×10⁻⁴ m²/s = 6.4516 St.
In²/s appears in some US hydraulic fluid specifications and industrial machinery manuals. A typical hydraulic fluid at 40°C might be specified as 0.04 in²/s (40 cSt). It is rarely used in modern practice compared to cSt.
Interesting fact: Hydraulic systems in US aircraft were historically specified using in²/s for fluid viscosity, alongside psi for pressure and gpm for flow — a fully inch-pound unit system that required separate conversion when integrating with metric components.
Kinematic viscosity (ν = μ/ρ) measures how a fluid flows under gravity. The cSt is dominant in industry; m²/s is the SI unit; St and cm²/s are the CGS equivalents. Key anchor: water at 20°C ≈ 1 cSt = 10⁻⁶ m²/s = 0.01 St.
Exact factor: 1 cm²/s = 0.155 in²/s. Reverse: 1 in²/s = 6.452 cm²/s.
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.