PSI to Pascal Converter
Convert from Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) to Pascal (Pa)
Understanding PSI and Pascal
PSI is a unit of pressure in the imperial and US customary measurement systems.
- Defined as one pound-force applied to one square inch of area
- Standard atmospheric pressure is approximately 14.7 PSI
- Commonly used for tire pressure, hydraulic systems, and industrial applications
- Widely used in the United States and countries using imperial units
The pascal (Pa) is the SI unit of pressure, defined as one newton per square meter.
- Named after Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century physicist and mathematician
- 1 Pa = 1 N/m² (one newton per square meter)
- Standard atmospheric pressure is approximately 101,325 Pa
- The official SI unit for pressure used in scientific and engineering contexts worldwide
Conversion Formula
PSI to Pascal:
Pa = PSI × 6,894.76
To convert from PSI to pascals, multiply the PSI value by approximately 6,894.76.
Pascal to PSI:
PSI = Pa × 0.000145038
To convert from pascals to PSI, multiply the pascal value by approximately 0.000145038.
PSI to Pascal Conversion Table
| Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) | Pascal (Pa) |
|---|---|
| 5 | 34,473.8 |
| 10 | 68,947.6 |
| 15 | 103,421.4 |
| 20 | 137,895.2 |
| 25 | 172,369 |
| 30 | 206,842.8 |
| 35 | 241,316.6 |
| 40 | 275,790.4 |
| 45 | 310,264.2 |
| 50 | 344,738 |
Historical Context and Applications
Historical Development
The PSI unit emerged during the Industrial Revolution in Britain and became standardized as engineering practices evolved. The pascal, named after French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, was officially adopted as the SI unit of pressure in 1971. Pascal's experiments in the 17th century with barometers and pressure established many fundamental principles of hydrostatics. Today, these units represent the divide between imperial and metric measurement systems, with PSI being common in the US and pascal being the international scientific standard.
Common Applications
- PSI: Widely used in the United States for everyday applications including tire pressure, water pressure, natural gas distribution, and industrial processes. Most pressure gauges in the US are calibrated in PSI.
- Pascal: The standard unit in scientific research, engineering calculations, and international technical documentation. Often used with prefixes (kPa, MPa) for practical applications because the base unit is relatively small.
Practical Examples
- Standard atmospheric pressure: 14.7 PSI (101,325 Pa)
- Car tire pressure: 30-35 PSI (206,843-241,317 Pa)
- Bicycle tire pressure: 50-90 PSI (344,738-620,528 Pa)
- Water pressure in home plumbing: 40-60 PSI (275,790-413,685 Pa)
- Scuba tank pressure: 3,000 PSI (20,684,271 Pa)
- Enter your value in the PSI field
- The converter instantly displays the equivalent in pascals
- Use the swap button to convert from pascals to PSI instead
- Results are displayed with 6 decimal places for precision
- For quick reference without calculations, refer to the conversion table above
This converter is particularly useful for engineers and scientists who need to translate between US engineering specifications (in PSI) and international standards or scientific calculations that use pascals as the standard unit of pressure.