The
pascal is the
SIThe International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
derived unitThe International System of Units specifies a set of seven base units from which all other units of measurement are formed, by products of the powers of base units. These other units are called SI derived units, for example, the SI derived unit of area is square metre , and of density is...
of
pressurePressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
,
internal pressureInternal pressure is a measure of how the internal energy of a system changes when it expands or contracts at constant temperature. It has the same dimensions as pressure, the SI unit of which is 1 pascal.Internal pressure is usually given the symbol \pi_T...
,
stressIn continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the internal forces acting within a deformable body. Quantitatively, it is a measure of the average force per unit area of a surface within the body on which internal forces act. These internal forces are a reaction to external forces applied on the body...
,
Young's modulusYoung's modulus is a measure of the stiffness of an elastic material and is a quantity used to characterize materials. It is defined as the ratio of the uniaxial stress over the uniaxial strain in the range of stress in which Hooke's Law holds. In solid mechanics, the slope of the stress-strain...
and
tensile strengthUltimate tensile strength , often shortened to tensile strength or ultimate strength, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before necking, which is when the specimen's cross-section starts to significantly contract...
, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher
Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
. It is a measure of
forceIn physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...
per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre. In everyday life, the pascal is perhaps best known from meteorological barometric pressure reports, where it occurs in the form of
hectopascals
(1 hPa ≡ 100 Pa) or
kilopascals (1 kPa ≡ 1000 Pa). In other contexts, the kilopascal is commonly used, for example on
bicycle tireA bicycle tire is a tire that fits on the wheel of a bicycle, unicycle, tricycle, quadracycle, bicycle trailer, or trailer bike. They may also be used on wheelchairs and handcycles, especially for racing...
labels. One
hectopascal corresponds to about 0.1% of
atmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
slightly above sea level; one
kilopascal is about 1% of atmospheric pressure. One
hectopascal is equivalent to one
millibarThe bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
; one standard
atmosphereThe standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...
is exactly equal to 101.325 kPa or 1013.25 hPa or 101325 Pa. The correspondent Imperial unit is
pounds per square inchThe pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
(psi).
Definition
The pascal can be expressed using
SI derived unitThe International System of Units specifies a set of seven base units from which all other units of measurement are formed, by products of the powers of base units. These other units are called SI derived units, for example, the SI derived unit of area is square metre , and of density is...
s, or alternatively solely
SI base unitThe International System of Units defines seven units of measure as a basic set from which all other SI units are derived. These SI base units and their physical quantities are:* metre for length...
s, as:
Where
N is the newton,
m is the metre,
kg is the kilogram, and
s is the second.
Origin
The unit is named after
Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
, the eminent French
mathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
,
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, and philosopher noted for his experiments with a
barometerA barometer is a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
, an instrument to measure air pressure. The name
pascal was adopted for the
SISi, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...
unit newton per square metre by the 14th CGPM in 1971.
http://www.bipm.fr/en/convention/cgpm/14/pascal-siemens.html
Miscellaneous
Standard atmospheric pressureThe standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101325 Pa and formerly used as unit of pressure. For practical purposes it has been replaced by the bar which is 105 Pa...
is 101
,325 Pa
= 101
.325 kPa
= 1013.25 hPa
= 1.01325 bar
= 0.101325 MPa
= 760
TorrThe torr is a non-SI unit of pressure with the ratio of 760 to 1 standard atmosphere, chosen to be roughly equal to the fluid pressure exerted by a millimetre of mercury, i.e., a pressure of 1 torr is approximately equal to 1 mmHg...
= 14.696
psi-Alphabetic letters:* Psi 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet* Psi , a letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek-Mathematics:* Tangential angle of a curve*Chebyshev function*Dedekind psi function*Digamma function...
.
This definition is used for pneumatic fluid power (ISO R554), and in the aerospace (ISO 2533) and petroleum (ISO 5024) industries.
In 1985 the IUPAC recommended that the standard for atmospheric pressure should be harmonized to 100,000 Pa = 1
barThe bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
= 750
TorrThe torr is a non-SI unit of pressure with the ratio of 760 to 1 standard atmosphere, chosen to be roughly equal to the fluid pressure exerted by a millimetre of mercury, i.e., a pressure of 1 torr is approximately equal to 1 mmHg...
. The same definition is used in the compressor and the pneumatic tool industries (ISO 2787).
The
UnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
computer character set has dedicated symbols for Pa and for kPa, but these exist merely for backward-compatibility with some older ideographic character-sets and are therefore deprecated.
Uses
The pascal (Pa) or kilopascal (kPa) as a unit of pressure measurement is widely used throughout the world and largely replaces the
pounds per square inchThe pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
(psi) unit, except in some countries still using the Imperial measurement system.
TectonophysicistsTectonophysics, a branch of geophysics, is the study of the physical processes that underlie tectonic deformation. The field encompasses the spatial patterns of stress, strain, and differing rheologies in the lithosphere and asthenosphere of the Earth; and the relationships between these patterns...
use the gigapascal (GPa) in measuring or calculating tectonic forces within the earth.
In
materials scienceMaterials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...
, megapascals (MPa = N/mm
2) or gigapascals (GPa = kN/mm
2) are commonly used to measure
stiffnessYoung's modulus is a measure of the stiffness of an elastic material and is a quantity used to characterize materials. It is defined as the ratio of the uniaxial stress over the uniaxial strain in the range of stress in which Hooke's Law holds. In solid mechanics, the slope of the stress-strain...
or
tensile strengthUltimate tensile strength , often shortened to tensile strength or ultimate strength, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before necking, which is when the specimen's cross-section starts to significantly contract...
of materials. Steel's tensile strength is approximately 200 GPa.
Other, older units of measure occasionally used for pressure are millimeters of mercury (
TorrThe torr is a non-SI unit of pressure with the ratio of 760 to 1 standard atmosphere, chosen to be roughly equal to the fluid pressure exerted by a millimetre of mercury, i.e., a pressure of 1 torr is approximately equal to 1 mmHg...
) and millimetres of water (1 mm H
2O = 9.80665 Pa).
In the cgs system, the unit of pressure is the
baryeThe barye , or sometimes barad, barrie, bary, baryd, baryed, or barie, is the centimetre-gram-second unit of pressure. It is equal to 1 dyne per square centimetre....
(symbol
ba), which is equal to one decipascal. The older kilogram-force per square centimetre corresponds to 98.0665 kPa, but is often rounded to 100 kPa in practice.
In the former
mts systemThe metre-tonne-second or mts system of units is a system of physical units. It was invented in France, hence the unit names sthène and pièze, and was adopted only by the Soviet Union in 1933, and abolished there in 1955. It was built on the same principles as the cgs system, but with larger units...
, the unit of pressure is the
pièzeThe pièze is the unit of pressure in the metre-tonne-second system of units , used, e.g., in the former Soviet Union 1933-1955. It is defined as one sthène per square metre. The symbol is pz....
(symbol
pz), which is equal to one kilopascal.
Vehicle owners' guides now specify
tireA tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
inflation in kilopascals.
Airtightness testing of buildingsA blower door is a piece of equipment primarily used to measure the airtightness of small to medium size buildings. It can also be used to measure airflow between building zones, to test ductwork airtightness and to help physically locate air leakage sites in the building envelope.There are three...
is measured at 50 Pa or 0.2 inches of water.
Hectopascal and millibar units
Meteorologists worldwide have for a long time measured atmospheric pressure in
barsThe bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
, which was originally equivalent to the average air pressure on Earth; the bar was divided into a thousand millibars to provide the precision meteorologists require. After the introduction of SI units, many preferred to preserve the customary pressure figures. Consequently, the bar was redefined as 100,000 pascals, which is only slightly lower than standard air pressure on Earth. Today many meteorologists prefer hectopascals (hPa) for air pressure, which are equivalent to millibars, while similar pressures are given in kilopascals in practically all other fields, since the hecto prefix is rarely used. Since official
metricationMetrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
, meteorologists in Canada use kilopascals (kPa), although in some other countries hectopascals are still in use.
As of 17th November 2011 the hectopascal will be used in aviation as the altimeter setting.
- 1 hectopascal (hPa) ≡ 100 Pa ≡ 1 mbar.
- 1 kilopascal (kPa) ≡ 1000 Pa ≡ 10 hPa ≡ 10 mbar.