# Newton meter

Physical unit
Unit name Newton meter
Unit symbol ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {N \, m, N \ cdot m}}$
Physical quantity (s) Torque , mechanical work
Formula symbol ${\ displaystyle M}$
dimension ${\ displaystyle {\ mathsf {M \; L ^ {2} \; T ^ {- 2}}}}$
system International system of units
In SI units ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \; N \, m = 1 \, {\ frac {kg \; m ^ {2}} {s ^ {2}}} = 1 \, J = 1 \, W \; s}}$
Derived from Newton , meter

The newton meter is the SI unit for the vector quantity torque and for the scalar quantities energy and work (in particular mechanical energy and work).

According to the formatting rules of the International System of Units , the two unit symbols N and m must always be separated by a space or a multiplication point, but this space is not used in practice. The order of the factors should not be reversed in order to avoid confusion with mN = millinewtons.

## Torque unit

A Newton meters is the amount of torque that a force of one Newton to a lever arm of a meter generated. By definition, the lever arm is always perpendicular to the force. ${\ displaystyle M}$ ${\ displaystyle F}$ ${\ displaystyle a}$

${\ displaystyle M = a \ cdot F}$

## Unit of energy

According to the definition , a newton meter is therefore equal to the units a joule and a watt-second of the scalar quantities energy , heat and work . A newton meter is the mechanical work that is done when the point of application of a force is shifted by one meter along its line of action by one newton . In practice, apart from intermediate calculation steps such as “… = 4711 N m = 4711 J” , the unit Newton meter is only used for torque, whereas Joule is used for energy, heat and work. ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \, N \ cdot m = 1 \, J = 1 \, W \ cdot s}}$

## Conversion factors

The units are used with various prefixes for units of measurement ( SI prefixes ); in addition to the SI unit N m, the following are still in use:

## Individual evidence

1. Section 5.1 ( Memento of March 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) of the SI brochure (PDF; 1.4 MB).
2. a b DIN 1301-1.