Pressure / Stress Converter

Convert between pascals, kilopascals, bar, psi, atmospheres, mmHg, inches of mercury, inches of water and every other unit of pressure and stress, including gauge pressures.

1 pascal = 0.00001 bars

Most used pressure units

Popular pressure conversions

What is pressure?

Pressure is force spread over an area. The same force presses much harder on a small area than on a large one, which is why a stiletto heel can dent a wooden floor that an elephant's foot would not. Stress in materials is measured with the same units.

The SI unit of pressure is the pascal, one newton per square meter. It is tiny: the atmosphere around us presses at about 101,325 Pa, so engineers and forecasters use kilopascals, hectopascals, bars and megapascals. The United States uses pounds per square inch (psi), and medicine still measures blood pressure in millimeters of mercury, from the mercury columns of early barometers.

Pressure can be absolute (measured from a perfect vacuum) or gauge (measured relative to the surrounding air). A tire gauge reading 32 psi means 32 psi above atmospheric pressure, about 46.7 psi absolute. The gauge units on this page (psig, barg) include that offset.

Common pressure equivalents

  • 1 standard atmosphere = 101,325 Pa = 1.01325 bar ≈ 14.696 psi = 760 mmHg ≈ 29.92 inHg
  • 1 bar = 100,000 Pa = 100 kPa ≈ 14.504 psi ≈ 0.987 atm
  • 1 psi ≈ 6,894.76 Pa ≈ 6.895 kPa ≈ 0.0689 bar
  • 1 mmHg ≈ 133.32 Pa ≈ 1 torr
  • 1 hPa = 1 mbar = 100 Pa (weather maps)
  • 1 MPa = 1 N/mm² ≈ 145.04 psi (material strength)

Pressure units from smallest to largest

Every proportional pressure unit on the site, ordered by size and expressed in pascals.

  1. Microbar 0.1 Pa
  2. Barye 0.1 Pa
  3. Millitorr 0.133322 Pa
  4. Micron of mercury 0.133322 Pa
  5. Pascal 1 Pa
  6. Poundal per square foot 1.48816 Pa
  7. Millimeter of water 9.80665 Pa
  8. Kilogram-force per square meter 9.80665 Pa
  9. Pound per square foot 47.8803 Pa
  10. Centimeter of water 98.0665 Pa
  11. Gram-force per square centimeter 98.0665 Pa
  12. Hectopascal 100 Pa
  13. Millibar 100 Pa
  14. Torr 133.322 Pa
  15. Millimeter of mercury 133.322 Pa
  16. Inch of water 249.089 Pa
  17. Ounce per square inch 430.922 Pa
  18. Kilopascal 1,000 Pa
  19. Centibar 1,000 Pa
  20. Pieze 1,000 Pa
  21. Centimeter of mercury 1,333.22 Pa
  22. Foot of water 2,989.07 Pa
  23. Foot of seawater 3,064.33 Pa
  24. Inch of mercury 3,386.39 Pa
  25. Pound per square inch 6,894.76 Pa
  26. Meter of water 9,806.65 Pa
  27. Tonne-force per square meter 9,806.65 Pa
  28. Decibar 10,000 Pa
  29. Meter of seawater 10,000 Pa
  30. Foot of mercury 40,636.7 Pa
  31. Short ton per square foot 95,760.5 Pa
  32. Technical atmosphere 98,066.5 Pa
  33. Kilogram-force per square centimeter 98,066.5 Pa
  34. Bar 100,000 Pa
  35. Standard atmosphere 101,325 Pa
  36. Megapascal 1,000,000 Pa
  37. Kilopound per square inch 6,894,760 Pa
  38. Kilogram-force per square millimeter 9,806,650 Pa
  39. Long ton per square inch 15,444,300 Pa
  40. Kilobar 100,000,000 Pa
  41. Gigapascal 1,000,000,000 Pa
  42. Megapound per square inch 6,894,760,000 Pa
  43. Atomic unit of pressure 29,421,000,000,000 Pa
  44. Planck pressure 4.63309 × 10113 Pa

All 46 pressure units

Metric (SI)

Atmospheres & mercury

Water column

US & imperial

Gravitational metric & CGS

Scientific

Frequently asked questions

How many psi is 1 bar?

One bar is about 14.5038 psi. One psi is about 0.0689 bar.

What is atmospheric pressure at sea level?

Standard atmospheric pressure is 101,325 Pa: 1,013.25 hPa, 1.01325 bar, 14.696 psi or 760 mmHg.

What is the difference between psi and psig?

psig is gauge pressure, measured relative to the atmosphere; psia is absolute pressure. psia = psig + 14.696 at sea level.

Why is blood pressure measured in mmHg?

Early blood pressure meters (sphygmomanometers) used a column of mercury, and the unit stuck. 120/80 mmHg is about 16.0/10.7 kPa.

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