metric - kg or n

huangyhg

metric - kg or n
accepted si application convention is newtons and pascals, with their appropriate prefixes.  this is what i am teaching in construction/engineering coursework and in my consulting activities.
i agree that fundamentally it makes no difference as long as consistency prevails.
in the uk we use newtons and either pascals or newtons per square millimetre.  the deign codes in the uk and across europe use these units, although, as ron states, whichever you use, consistency is the key.
regards
andy machon
kg is the unit for mass, n is the unit for force, see newton's law.
using kgf for force is outdated and considering the messages above confusing.
i believe sometimes they use kilogram as a force by assuming earth's gravity, i.e. 1 kgf = 9.81 n. this is analogous to using pounds for mass rather than slugs.
in fact unity sistems before si did not pay much atention to the efect of gravity.
i think that in venezuela they still use the so called technical system of unities like in the old germany, designated as mkps ( meter, kilograme weigth and second ).
nowadays the countries all around the world subscribed a convention to addopt and use forever the si unities, i am sure even the usa had subscribed that, but as it is a strong market is still keeping in use the imperial system of unities.
cv
i agree with ron that consistency is all that matters. since the rest of the world uses newtons and its appropriate derivatives (kn, kpa, mpa etc.), the si system is the one to use.
when you make the change as i did twice - firstly from the old european system of kg as a force to the old british system of lbs and inches and feet; secondly to the si system when it was introduced in australia - you will experience a brief period of discomfort.
before long, you will forget the old system and relish the new one with its clear distinction between mass and force.
it is of no any problem to use this or this units as we are understandig the meaning of them and the diversion formula  n , kn , pascal  are used in countries which are using foot  inch base  in calculation  but in countries which are using meter and cms. they are using the matching force units kg., ton. which is equal to 1000 kgms.  nevertheless there is a relation amog all these units  like  1000 kn=100 ton (metric ton ) approximately and can be calculated exacly by knowing  the gravity acceleration value in the two units.