EngineeringFormulaTorque Conversion
Convert N·m to lb·ft
1 N·m = 0.73756 lb·ft
US automotive and hand-tool torque specs - torque wrenches, bolt-tightening specs - are almost always given in pound-feet; engineering calculations and most of the rest of the world use newton-meters.
Torque is force times distance. Converting the force unit (1 lbf = 4.44822 N) and distance unit (1 ft = 0.3048 m) gives 1 lb·ft = 4.44822 × 0.3048 = 1.35582 N·m, so 1 N·m = 1 / 1.35582 = 0.737562 lb·ft.
A lug nut spec of 100 lb·ft (a common passenger-vehicle value) works out to about 135.6 N·m on a metric torque wrench.
Reference Table
| newton-meters (N·m) | pound-feet (lb·ft) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.73756 |
| 5 | 3.6878 |
| 10 | 7.3756 |
| 25 | 18.439 |
| 50 | 36.878 |
| 100 | 73.756 |
Used In These Calculators
Frequently Asked Questions
Is lb·ft (torque) the same as ft·lb (work or energy)?
They're dimensionally identical - force times distance - and sometimes written interchangeably in casual use, but they describe different physical concepts. Torque is a rotational force at a radius, with no requirement that anything moves; work or energy is force applied over an actual displacement. Torque specs are conventionally written lb·ft, and energy values ft·lb, though this convention isn't universally enforced.
Why do some torque specs use lb·in instead of lb·ft?
Smaller fasteners and lighter-duty specs are often given in pound-inches (lb·in) rather than pound-feet simply because the resulting numbers stay in a more convenient range - 1 lb·ft equals 12 lb·in, so a spec of a few lb·ft would otherwise read as an oddly small decimal.
Browse all unit conversions or the full calculator index.