Definition:SI/Pressure/Pascal

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Definition

The pascal is the SI unit of pressure.


It is defined as being:

The amount of pressure required to apply a force of $1$ newton over an area of $1$ square metre


Conversion Factors

\(\ds \) \(\) \(\ds 1\) pascals
\(\ds \) \(=\) \(\ds 1\) newton per square metre
\(\ds \) \(=\) \(\ds 10\) barye
\(\ds \) \(=\) \(\ds 10^{-6}\) megapascal
\(\ds \) \(\approx\) \(\ds 1 \cdotp 450377 \times 10^{-4}\) pounds per square inch


Symbol

$\mathrm {Pa}$

The symbol for the pascal is $\mathrm {Pa}$.


Its $\LaTeX$ code is \mathrm {Pa} .


Base Units

The SI base units of the pascal are:

$\mathrm {Pa} := \mathrm {kg \, m^{-1} \, s^{-2} }$

where:

$\mathrm {kg}$ denotes kilograms
$\mathrm m$ denotes metres
$\mathrm s$ denotes seconds (of time).


Also known as

The term pascal in the context of a unit of pressure is relatively new.

Hence older works will generally use the term newton per square metre.


Source of Name

This entry was named for Blaise Pascal.


Historical Note

The name pascal was adopted for the SI unit newton per square metre by the 14th General Conference on Weights and Measures in $1971$.


Sources