Convert kilonewton to decanewton

Scales are marked in kilograms, but the kilogram measures mass, and weight is the force gravity exerts on that mass. The kilopond (kp, also written kgf) is the weight of one kilogram under standard gravity, 9.80665 N; it was a legal unit in Germany until 1978 and survives in older manuals. The pound-force (lbf) is the same idea for the pound, 4.448 N, and is still the everyday force unit in US engineering. The newton is the SI unit: a 100 g apple weighs about 1 N.

A newton is roughly the weight of an apple, of 102 g to be exact. Before the SI, force was measured in kilograms-force or kiloponds (kp), the weight of a kilogram, 9.81 N; old German torque figures in 'mkp' and towing limits in kp come from that era, and the pound-force (4.45 N) plays the same role in the US. The decanewton, 10 N, is popular in France, Italy and on lashing straps and slings precisely because it is almost a kilogram-force (1.02 kp), so 'LC 2500 daN' on a strap means about 2.5 tonnes. Climbing gear is rated in kilonewtons: a 22 kN karabiner holds about 2.2 t.