A kip is a

US customary United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that ...

unit of

force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

. It equals 1000 pounds-force, and is used primarily by

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

s to indicate forces where the value represented in pound-force is inefficient. Although uncommon, it is occasionally also considered a unit of

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, equal to 1000 pounds (i.e. one half of a

short ton The short ton (abbreviation: tn or st), also known as the US ton, is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton; however, the term is ambiguous, the single word "ton" being variously ...

). Another use is as a unit of deadweight to compute shipping charges. :1 kip ≈ = The name comes from combining the words ''kilo'' and ''pound''; it is occasionally called a kilopound. Its symbol is kip, sometimes K (upper or lowercase), or less frequently, klb. When it is necessary to clearly distinguish it as a unit of force rather than mass, it is sometimes called the ''kip-force'' (symbol kipf or klbf). The symbol kp usually stands for the ''kilopond'', a unit of force, or

kilogram-force The kilogram-force (kgf or kgF), or kilopond (kp, from ), is a non-standard Gravitational metric system, gravitational metric unit of force. It is not accepted for use with the International System of Units (SI) and is deprecated for most uses. T ...

, used primarily in Europe prior to the introduction of SI units. The kip is also the name of a unit of mass equal to approximately 9.19

kilogram The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

s. This usage is obsolete, and was used in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

References

Units of force Units of mass Customary units of measurement in the United States {{United States Customary Units

See also

References