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If you load an area of 1 m² with 100 g weight force (F = 0.1 g × 10 m/s² = 1 N), this results in a pressure of 1 Pa.* The commonly used unit for higher pressuresin Europe is the Bar (bar). As can be seen in the calculation, the Pascal (Pa) is too small a classification for most technical applications.
1 Pa = 1 N/m2
This approximately corresponds to the pressure exerted by a mass of 1 kg on 1 cm² or a mass of 10 t on 1 m².
*Comment: the exact value of the gravitational acceleration of g = 9.81 m/s² has not been used for the calculations on this page. Instead a rounded value of 10 m/s² has been used.
The usual unit for higher pressures in Europe is the bar (bar), since Pascal (Pa) is too small a unit of measurement for most technical applications. Below you will find a conversion from 1 bar to the corresponding pressure value in the unit Pa.
1 bar = 105 N/m² = 100 000 Pa
1 bar corresponds approximately to the pressure exerted by a mass of 1 kg on an area of 1 cm2 or 10 t on 1 m2.
Fig. 1: Generation of 1 bar with different weight forces and surface areas
*Note: The exact value of the acceleration due to gravity g = 9.81 m/s² was not used here, but a rounded value of 10 m/s².
Values of the pressure units | |
---|---|
Value | |
1 Pa | 0,01 |
1 hPa | 1 |
1 psi | 68,97 |
1 mWs | 98,07 |
1 mmHg | 1,333 |
1 Torr | 1,333 |
1 at | 980,07 |
1 atm | 1013,3 |
The legally admissible unit bar replaced the previously used pressure units at and atm in 1978. These units can no longer be used today. However, their story is interesting and reveals the connection with other pressure units that are sometimes
still used today: The technical atmosphere at was based on the hydrostatic pressure as a reference, which exerts a 10 meter high water column (see chapter 2.5). At a density of ρ = 1 kg/dm3 and with the gravitational acceleration of g = 9.80665 m/s2, the following applies:
1 at=0.980665 bar=10 mH2O
The technical atmosphere at is usually followed by an index character, depending on whether it is an absolute pressure (ata), a negative pressure (atu) or an overpressure (atü), such as prevails in tire pressure testers at service stations.
The physical atmosphere reference atm is the average atmospheric pressure prevailing at sea level caused by the weight force of the Earth's atmosphere.
Pressure atm:
1 atm = 1.01325 bar = 760 Torr = 760 mmHg
The unit of measurement mmHg is identical to the unit of pressure Torr and denotes the pressure exerted by a column of mercury 1 millimeter high with a density of 13.5951 g/cm3 and an acceleration due to gravity of 9.80665 m/s2.
Unit of pressure mmHg:
1 mm Hg = 133,322387415 Pa
The millimeter mercury column is not one of the SI-compliant pressure units, but is a legal unit used in medicine to diagnose blood pressure in the EU states and Switzerland.
The unit commonly used in the USA is pounds per square inch (psi). However, the relevant information in product specifications or data sheets is usually given in psi (pounds per square inch).
Pressure unit psi:
1 psi = 1 ibf/in2, whereby:
ibf - a unit of force (pound-force), defined as the force that attracts a body of 1 pound, assuming that the acceleration due to gravity has a constant value equal to g = 9.80665 m/s2,
1 psi = 6.894,75729 Pa = 6.894 kPa
The following information allows you to easily convert between the most common pressure units:
An example of the use of pressure units can be found in the specifications of a pressure gauge, such as the JUMO TAROS S47 P. In the version with a measuring range of 0 to 6 bar relative pressure, the burst pressure is 60 bar. This means that irreparable damage to the instrument will occur at a pressure of 60 bar = 6MPa = 61.183 at = 59.215 atm = 870.226 psi = 37503.18 mmHg.
It is also worth mentioning a pressure measuring device such as a differential pressure transmitter, e.g. a pressure sensor for non-aggressive gases. The input pressure ranges from 0 to 5 mbar. This means that the maximum differential pressure that the sensor can detect is 5 bar = 10-3 Pa = 1 hPa = 0.0051 at = 0.00493 atm = 0.0725 psi.