The
pascal (symbol:
Pa) is the
SI derived unit of
pressure,
internal pressure,
stress,
Young's modulus and
tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher
Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of
force per unit area, defined as one
newton per
square meter.
Common multiple units of the pascal are the
hectopascal (1
hPa ≡ 100 Pa),
kilopascal (1
kPa ≡ 1000 Pa),
megapascal (1
MPa ≡ 1,000,000 Pa), and
gigapascal (1
GPa ≡ 1,000,000,000 Pa).
On Earth,
standard atmospheric pressure is 101,325 Pa.
Meteorological barometric pressure reports typically report atmospheric pressure in hectopascals. The kilopascal is used in other applications such as inflation guidance markings on
bicycle tires. One hectopascal corresponds to about 0.1% of
atmospheric pressure slightly above sea level; one kilopascal is about 1% of atmospheric pressure. One hectopascal is equivalent to one
millibar; one standard
atmosphere is exactly equal to 101.325 kPa or 1013.25 hPa or 101325 Pa. The corresponding Imperial unit is
pounds per square inch (psi).