Okay. What is the difference between foot/pounds and pound/feet? When I tighten the bolts on a vibratory feeder, I tighten them to 100 foot/pounds. When Ford rates the EcoBoost engine, they say 420 pound feet.

To me, 100 foot pounds is the same as a 100 pound anvil hanging from a wrench that is 1 foot long.

Correspondingly, 420 pound feet would be the same as a 1 pound bag of chocolate stars hanging on a wrench that is 420 feet long. Wouldn't that be the same as a 420 pound sumo wrestler hanging from a 1 foot long wrench?

So are foot pounds and pound feet really the same?

 

No such thing as a stupid question and yes, it's the same. It's inverse proportions. A 420 pound weight hanging on a 1 foot wrench exerts the same amount force as a 1 pound weight on a 420 foot wrench. Foot pound v/s pound feet.

 

Thanks, I figured thats probably was how it worked at least mathmatically. The marketing department probably thought that pound feet sounds more impressive than foot pounds.

 

Pounds feet is for torque, and foot pounds is related to energy.

Wikipedia is neat.