Stokes to Centistokes Kinematic Viscosity Converter
Common Conversions
| St | cSt |
|---|---|
| 0.001 | 0.1 |
| 0.005 | 0.5 |
| 0.01 | 1 |
| 0.02 | 2 |
| 0.05 | 5 |
| 0.1 | 10 |
| 0.25 | 25 |
| 0.5 | 50 |
| 1 | 100 |
| 10 | 1000 |
Why this conversion matters in chemistry
Bringing legacy viscometer data forward is where this earns its keep. Glycerol at 20 °C in the older fluid-dynamics literature reads 11.2 St; the same fluid on a modern ASTM D445 capillary-viscometer certificate reads 1120 cSt. ISO 3448 grading tables work in cSt too. So if you're cross-checking a classical Saybolt-viscometer measurement against a modern spec sheet, this is the trivial conversion — centi-prefix arithmetic, ×100 — that has to happen first before any of the actual lubrication math goes anywhere.
Formula
cSt = St × 100
Worked Examples
0.01 St = 1 cSt
Water at 20 °C — the calibration anchor at the low-viscosity end.
1 St = 100 cSt
About the viscosity of a light lubricating oil.
0.005 St = 0.5 cSt
About a low-viscosity organic solvent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert stokes to centistokes?
Multiply by 100. The relationship is exact through the centi prefix: 1 St = 100 cSt. In SI units, 1 St = 1 cm²/s = 10⁻⁴ m²/s.
What's the SI unit of kinematic viscosity?
m²/s by definition. But that gives vanishingly small numbers for most fluids, so centistokes (1 cSt = 10⁻⁶ m²/s = 1 mm²/s) is far more practical for everyday use. Water at 20 °C is about 1 cSt.
How do centistokes relate to centipoise?
Kinematic viscosity (cSt) = dynamic viscosity (cP) / density (g/cm³). For water (density ≈ 1 g/cm³), 1 cP ≈ 1 cSt. For other fluids, the density factor matters and the two units don't coincide.