Orders of magnitude (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)	Value	Item
10−24 yoctonewton (yN)	5 yN	Force necessary to synchronize the motion of a single trapped ion with an external signal measured in a 2010 experiment[1][2]
	174 yN	Force measured in a 2010 experiment by perturbing 60 beryllium-9 ions[3][4]
10−6 micronewton (μN)	1–150 μN	Output of FEEP ion thrusters used in NASA's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna [5]
10−3 millinewton (mN)	24.5 mN	Maximum weight of a mosquito
	92 mN	Thrust of the NSTAR Ion Engine tested on NASA's space probe Deep Space 1

1 N and above

Magnitude	Value	Item
1 newton (N)	1 N	The weight of an average apple[6][7]
10 N	9.80665 N	One kilogram-force, nominal weight of a 1 kg object at sea level on Earth
102 N	720 N	Average force of human bite, measured at molars [8]
103 N 1 kilonewton (kN)	8 kN	The maximum force achieved by weight lifters during a 'clean and jerk' lift.[9]
103 N 1 kilonewton (kN)	9.8 kN	The bite force of an adult American alligator.
104 N	18 kN	The bite force of an adult great white shark.
104 N	45 kN	The force applied by the engine of a small car during peak acceleration [10]
105 N	(100 kN)	The average force applied by seatbelt and airbag to a restrained passenger in a car which hits a stationary barrier at 100 km/h [11]
106 N 1 meganewton (MN)	1.8 MN	Thrust of Space Shuttle main engine at lift-off
107 N	34.02 MN	Thrust of Saturn V rocket at lift-off
108 N	570 MN	Simplistic estimate of force of sunlight on Earth [12]
109 N 1 giganewton (GN)
1020 N	1.98×1020 N	Gravitational attraction between Earth and Moon [13]
1022 N	3.5×1022 N	Gravitational attraction between Earth and Sun [14]
1044 N	1.21027×1044 N	The Planck force

Notes

1. ^ Knünz, S.; Herrmann, M.; Batteiger, V.; Saathoff, G.; Hänsch, T.; Vahala, K.; Udem, T. (2010). "Injection Locking of a Trapped-Ion Phonon Laser". Physical Review Letters 105 (1): 013004. Bibcode 2010PhRvL.105a3004K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.013004. PMID 20867440.  edit
2. ^ "Single atoms for detecting extremely weak forces". Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. http://www.mpq.mpg.de/cms/mpq/en/news/press/10_08_04.html. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
3. ^ Brumfiel, G. (2010). "Scientists measure atomic nudge". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2010.187.  edit
4. ^ M. J. Biercuk, H. Uys, J. W. Britton, A. P. VanDevender, J. J. Bollinger (9 Apr 2010). "YoctoNewton force detection sensitivity using trapped ions". arXiv:1004.0780. 
5. ^ http://www.lisa-science.org/list/list_meetings/potsdam_2006/lpf-presentation.pdf
6. ^ http://www.teachersource.com/Workshops/SuperWowNeatScienceforEveryonewithRonPerkins/NewtonsApple.aspx
7. ^ Lafferty, Peter & Julian Rowe. The Dictionary of Science. New York: Helicon, 1993: 404.
8. ^ Houston T E, Bite Force and Bite Pressure: Comparisons of Humans and Dogs, 2003 [1]
9. ^ The Human Machine By R. McNeill Alexander, Mark Iley, Sally Alexander
10. ^ http://www.miniusa.com 2008 MINI Cooper'S.
11. ^ Lawrence Weinstein and John A. Adams, Guesstimation, 2008, Section 6.3.1
12. ^ 1.63 x 10⁻¹⁴ x gravitational attraction between Earth and Sun, assuming total absorption of sunlight Sunlight Exerts Pressure, NASA Glenn LTP Math & Science Resources
13. ^ http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~do_while/sage/v5i5d.htm
14. ^ http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/961029b.html

External links