CGS System of Units Calculator — CGS to SI Converter
Convert any value between the CGS (centimetre-gram-second) and SI (metre-kilogram-second) systems. Covers the mechanical CGS units: length, mass, velocity, force (dyne), energy (erg), pressure (barye), dynamic viscosity (poise) and kinematic viscosity (stokes).
Quantity
Direction
Dyne (dyn) ↔ Newton (N)
- 1
Input (dyn)
1 - 2
Factor (1 dyn → N)
0.00001Derived from base-unit ratios: 1 cm = 0.01 m, 1 g = 0.001 kg. - 3
Result (N)
1 × 0.00001 = 0.000010
How does this calculator work?
CGS to SI: multiply by the factor. Key factors — 1 cm = 0.01 m; 1 g = 0.001 kg; 1 dyne = 10⁻⁵ N; 1 erg = 10⁻⁷ J; 1 barye = 0.1 Pa; 1 poise = 0.1 Pa·s; 1 stokes = 10⁻⁴ m²/s. SI to CGS: divide by the same factor. CGS is still used in some physics and fluid-mechanics literature.
Formula
How this is calculated
The CGS system, formalised in the 1870s, bases all mechanical units on the centimetre, gram and second. The SI system (adopted internationally from 1960) uses the metre, kilogram and second as its base units. Conversion factors between the two follow directly from the base-unit ratios: 1 cm = 10⁻² m and 1 g = 10⁻³ kg, so derived units carry the appropriate power of these factors.
The key derived-unit conversions are: force 1 dyne = 1 g·cm/s² = 10⁻³ kg × 10⁻² m / s² = 10⁻⁵ N; energy 1 erg = 1 dyne·cm = 10⁻⁵ N × 10⁻² m = 10⁻⁷ J; pressure 1 barye = 1 dyne/cm² = 10⁻⁵ N / (10⁻² m)² = 0.1 Pa. Dynamic viscosity: 1 poise = 1 g/(cm·s) = 0.1 kg/(m·s) = 0.1 Pa·s. Kinematic viscosity: 1 stokes = 1 cm²/s = 10⁻⁴ m²/s.
CGS is still used in some specialised fields: Gaussian CGS (with its own electromagnetic units) is common in physics and astronomy; dynes and ergs appear in fluid mechanics, aeronautics and seismology literature. This calculator covers the Gaussian mechanical subset only — the electromagnetic CGS units (gauss, oersted, statcoulomb, …) have a more complex relationship with SI and are not included.
Frequently asked questions
CGS uses centimetre, gram and second as base units; SI uses metre, kilogram and second. All derived units differ by powers of 10 (for mechanical quantities). For electromagnetic quantities the relationship is more involved because CGS Gaussian units define the electric and magnetic constants differently from SI.
CGS mechanical units appear in older scientific literature and some specialist fields — dynes and ergs in aeronautics and seismology, poise in viscometry, gauss in magnetism. SI is the international standard for engineering and most science, but papers before the 1980s often used CGS.
One dyne is 10⁻⁵ newtons — roughly the weight of 1 milligram on Earth (1 mg × 9.8 m/s² ≈ 9.8 × 10⁻⁶ N ≈ 1 dyne). One erg (the corresponding energy unit) is 10⁻⁷ joules — about the kinetic energy of a mosquito flying at a few cm/s.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). CGS System of Units Calculator — CGS to SI Converter [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/cgs-system-of-units-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "CGS System of Units Calculator — CGS to SI Converter." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/cgs-system-of-units-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "CGS System of Units Calculator — CGS to SI Converter," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/cgs-system-of-units-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_cgs_system_of_units_calculator, title = {CGS System of Units Calculator — CGS to SI Converter}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/cgs-system-of-units-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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