Kip (unit).html



In the United States, a kip is a unit of force that equals 1,000 pounds-force, used primarily by architects and engineers to measure engineering loads. It is also used as a unit of weight to compute shipping charges. It is equivalent to one half of a U.S. ton. Although uncommon, it is occasionally also considered a unit of mass, equal to 1,000 pounds.

The name comes from combining the words "kilo" and "pound"; it is occasionally called a kilopound. Its symbol is kip, 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). Note that the symbol kp usually stands for a different unit of force, the kilopond or kilogram-force.

The kip is also the name of obsolete units of measure in England and Malaysia.¹

See also

• Conversion of Force Units
• Conversion of Mass Units

References