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Orders of magnitude (force)

Comparison of a wide range of physical forces

Orders of magnitude (force)

Comparison of a wide range of physical forces

Examples of force.

The following list shows different orders of magnitude of force.

Since weight under gravity is a force, several of these examples refer to the weight of various objects. Unless otherwise stated, these are weights under average Earth gravity at sea level.

Below 1 N

Factor (N)ValueItem
10
3.6 qNGravitational attraction of the proton and the electron in hydrogen atom
10
quectonewton (qN)8.9 qNWeight of an electron
10
16 rNWeight of a hydrogen atom
10
yoctonewton (yN)5 yNForce necessary to synchronize the motion of a single trapped ion with an external signal measured in a 2010 experiment
10170 yNForce measured in a 2010 experiment by perturbing 60 beryllium-9 ions
10
attonewton (aN)
1030 aNSmallest force of gravity measured
10
femtonewton (fN)
10~10 fNtitle=Forces involved at the biological levelurl=http://www.picotwist.com/index.php?content=smb&option=odgpublisher=PicoTwistaccess-date=30 December 2011}}
~10 fNWeight of an *E. coli* bacterium
10~100 fNForce to stretch double-stranded DNA to 50% relative extension
10
piconewton (pN)~4 pNForce to break a hydrogen bond
~5 pNMaximum force of a molecular motor
10
10~160 pNForce to break a typical noncovalent bond
10
nanonewton (nN)~1.6 nNForce to break a typical covalent bond
10
~82nNForce on an electron in a hydrogen atom
10
~200nNForce between two 1 meter long conductors, 1 meter apart by an outdated definition of one ampere
10
micronewton (μN)1–150 μNOutput of FEEP ion thrusters used in NASA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
10
10
millinewton (mN)2-4 mN
1019-92 mNThrust of the NSTAR ion engine tested on NASA's space probe Deep Space 1
10

1 N and above

MagnitudeValueItem
1 N1.4 NThe weight of a smartphone
2.5 NTypical thrust of a Dual-Stage 4-Grid ion thruster.
9.8 NOne kilogram-force, nominal weight of a 1 kg object at sea level on Earth
10 N50 NAverage force to break the shell of a chicken egg from a young hen
10 N720 NAverage force of human bite, measured at molars
10 N
kilonewton (kN)5 kNThe force applied by the engine of a small car during peak acceleration
8 kNThe maximum force achieved by weight lifters during a 'clean and jerk' lift (During the clean part)
9 kNThe bite force of one adult American alligator
10 N16.5 kNThe bite force of a 5.2 m saltwater crocodile
18 kNThe estimated bite force of a 6.1 m adult great white shark
25 kNApproximate force applied by the motors of a Tesla Model S during maximal acceleration
25.5 to 34.5 kNThe estimated bite force of a large 6.7 m adult saltwater crocodile
10 N100 kNThe average force applied by seatbelt and airbag to a restrained passenger in a car which hits a stationary barrier at 100 km/h
569 kNMaximum thrust of a large turbofan engine (General Electric GE90)
890 kNMaximum pulling force (tractive effort) of a single large diesel-electric locomotive
10 N
meganewton (MN)1.8 MNurl=http://www.pratt-whitney.com/Space_Shuttle_Main_Enginetitle=Space Shuttle Main Enginepublisher=Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyneaccess-date=20 April 2013quote=109% power level at sea level: 418,000 lbarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114175951/http://www.pratt-whitney.com/Space_Shuttle_Main_Enginearchive-date=14 November 2012}}
1.9 MNWeight of the largest blue whale
10 N35 MNThrust of Saturn V rocket at lift-off
10 N570 MNSimplistic estimate of force of sunlight on Earth
10 N
giganewton (GN)8.99 GNForce between two charges of 1 coulomb placed 1 meter apart
10 N200 ENGravitational attraction between Earth and Moon
10 N35 ZNGravitational attraction between Earth and Sun
10 N≈810 RNGravitational attraction between our Galaxy and Andromeda Galaxy
10 N1.2 QNPlanck force

Notes

References

  1. Hugh D. Young, ''University Physics 4th Ed'', 1992, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, Inc.
  2. (2010). "Injection Locking of a Trapped-Ion Phonon Laser". Physical Review Letters.
  3. "Single atoms for detecting extremely weak forces". Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics.
  4. (2010). "Scientists measure atomic nudge". Nature.
  5. (9 Apr 2010). "Ultrasensitive detection of force and displacement using trapped ions". Nature Nanotechnology.
  6. (2024-02-23). "Measuring gravity with milligram levitated masses". Science Advances.
  7. (2024-02-25). "Scientists measure gravity in Attonewton — up to one billionth of a billionth of a Newton".
  8. "Forces involved at the biological level". PicoTwist.
  9. "E. coli Statistics". The [[CyberCell]] Database.
  10. Calculated: weight = mass * g = 1e-15 kg * 9.81 m/s^2 = 1e-14 N
  11. "LISA Pathfinder project status".
  12. "NSTAR Ion Thruster". NASA.
  13. (15 December 2016). "How Much Does Your Smartphone Really Weigh?".
  14. "Recycled Cell Phones—A Treasure Trove of Valuable Metals".
  15. (2 July 2009). "Appendix B8—Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically". NIST.
  16. Damme, Klaus. (2020). "Geflügeljahrbuch 2021". Eugen Ulmer KG.
  17. "Bite Force and Bite Pressure: Comparisons of Humans and Dogs T E Houston, PhD (2003)".
  18. The Human Machine By R. McNeill Alexander, Mark Iley, Sally Alexander
  19. (2003). "The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)". Journal of Zoology.
  20. "Crocodiles Have Strongest Bite Ever Measured, Hands-on Tests Show".
  21. "Great White Tops List of Hardest-Biting Sharks". Discovery Channel.
  22. Calculated from maximum acceleration of 1.22 g and kerb mass of {{convert. 2050. kg. lbs
  23. (2012). "Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation". PLOS ONE.
  24. Lawrence Weinstein and John A. Adams, ''Guesstimation'', 2008, Section 6.3.1
  25. "Space Shuttle Main Engine". Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
  26. Wade, Mark. "SSME". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
  27. Calculated: 418000 lbf * 4.45 N/lbf * (104% launch power level / 109%) = 1.77e6 N.
  28. "What Was the Saturn V?". NASA.
  29. 1.63 x 10−14 x gravitational attraction between Earth and Sun, assuming total absorption of sunlight [http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/sunlight_exerts_pressure.htm Sunlight Exerts Pressure], NASA Glenn LTP Math & Science Resources
  30. "The Earth-Moon Equations".
  31. [http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/961029b.html NASA.gov]
  32. Calculated from known masses (1.15{{e. 12 and 1.5{{e. 12 M☉) at a distance of 2.5 Mly.
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