kilopound

A kilopound, often abbreviated as kip, is a unit of force commonly used in the United States. It is equivalent to 1000 pounds of force. The term "kip" is a portmanteau derived from "kilo" meaning one thousand, and "pound" as the unit of force.

The kilopound is primarily used in engineering, particularly in structural engineering and the design of bridges, buildings, and other load-bearing structures. It is also encountered in the testing of materials and in some areas of mechanical engineering. The use of the kip simplifies calculations when dealing with very large forces that would otherwise be expressed in thousands of pounds, reducing the number of digits and potential for error.

While the pound is a unit of mass in some contexts, in the case of the kilopound and its base unit, the pound, it specifically refers to pound-force (lbf). This distinction is important in scientific and engineering calculations where mass and force must be treated separately. The international standard unit of force is the newton, but the kilopound remains prevalent in American engineering practice. One kilopound is approximately equal to 4448.22 newtons.