Definition:CGS/Force/Dyne

Definition

The dyne is the CGS unit of force.

It is defined as being:

The amount of force required to accelerate a mass of one gram at a rate of one centimetre per second squared.

This arises from Newton's Second Law of Motion, which states that such an acceleration exists under the influence of such a force.

Conversion Factors

\(\ds \)

\(\)

\(\ds 1\)

dyne

\(\ds \)

\(=\)

\(\ds 10^{-5}\)

newtons

Symbol

$\mathrm {dyn}$

The symbol for the dyne is $\mathrm {dyn}$.

The $\LaTeX$ code for \(\mathrm {dyn}\) is \mathrm {dyn} .

Base Units

The CGS base units of the dyne are:

$\mathrm {dyn} := \mathrm g \, \mathrm {cm} \, \mathrm s^{-2}$

where:

$\mathrm g$ denotes grams

$\mathrm {cm}$ denotes centimetres

$\mathrm s$ denotes seconds (of time).

Sources

• 1966: Isaac Asimov: Understanding Physics ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {I}$: Motion, Sound and Heat: Chapter $3$: The Laws of Motion: Mass
• 1969: J.C. Anderson, D.M. Hum, B.G. Neal and J.H. Whitelaw: Data and Formulae for Engineering Students (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $1.$ Units and Abbreviations: $1.3$ British and other units
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): dyne
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): dyne