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foot-pound

foot-pound

1 7.3
A unit of work equal to a one-pound force moving an object one foot
  • noun
  • /ˈfʊtˌpaʊnd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pie-libra
  • It's 400 foot-pounds.
  • foot-pounds of torque

Examples

  • 500 foot pounds of torque... whatever that is.

  • 490 foot-pounds of torque in a 3,800-pound package.

  • The solid lead bullet zipped into the point of aim just behind Rick's ear, delivering 150 foot-pounds of energy right to the creature's medulla.

    Blog text (34)
  • The coupling now routinely handles torque levels over 5 million Newton meters, or 3.86 million foot-pounds.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The crane was equipped with a special diesel-powered drilling unit capable of 350,000 foot-pounds of torque to drive the MecTool into the ground.

    Academic text (1995)
  • His tombstone is inscribed with a number, 722.55, which was his approximation to the now-accepted 778 foot-pounds per British thermal unit.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Although each of the individual jackbolts feels a mere 100 lbs-ft of torque, the overall effect loads the bolt with a Herculean equivalent of several thousand foot-pounds.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The extreme combination of C#-006 bolts and D#+034 nuts yielded 329 foot-pounds of torque and 32,510 pounds of tension force.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The engine generates 300 foot-pounds of torque, making it powerful enough for heavy towing.

  • To tighten the bolt correctly, you need to apply 20 foot-pounds of torque using a torque wrench.

Surface Forms

foot-pound singular
foot-pounds plural

Morphology

foot-pound = foot + pound (transparent) = foot + pound

The term is a straightforward compound of two unit nouns naming a measurement formed from force × distance, which learners familiar with unit-naming patterns can readily interpret.

Etymology

Foot-pound combines two everyday words: foot meaning 'one foot' and pound meaning 'one pound of force or weight'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture moving a one-pound weight one foot, because that movement is one foot-pound of work or energy.