# Pounds per square inch

Last updated
Pound per square inch
A pressure gauge reading in psi (red scale) and kPa (black scale)
General information
Unit system Imperial units, US customary units
Unit of Pressure, Stress
Symbolpsiorlbf/in2
Conversions
1 psi in ...... is equal to ...
SI units    6.894757 kPa

The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch (symbol: lbf/in2; [1] abbreviation: psi) is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units. It is the pressure resulting from a force of one pound-force applied to an area of one square inch. In SI units, 1 psi is approximately equal to 6895 N/m2.

## Contents

Pounds per square inch absolute (psia) is used to make it clear that the pressure is relative to a vacuum rather than the ambient atmospheric pressure. Since atmospheric pressure at sea level is around 14.7 psi (101 kilopascals ), this will be added to any pressure reading made in air at sea level. The converse is pounds per square inch gauge (psig), indicating that the pressure is relative to atmospheric pressure. For example, a bicycle tire pumped up to 65 psig in a local atmospheric pressure at sea level (14.7 psia) will have a pressure of 79.7 psia (14.7 psi + 65 psi). [2] [3] When gauge pressure is referenced to something other than ambient atmospheric pressure, then the units would be pounds per square inch differential (psid).

## Multiples

The kilopound per square inch (ksi) is a scaled unit derived from psi, equivalent to a thousand psi (1000 lbf/in2).

ksi are not widely used for gas pressures. They are mostly used in materials science, where the tensile strength of a material is measured as a large number of psi. [4]

The conversion in SI units is 1 ksi = 6.895 MPa, or 1 MPa = 0.145 ksi.

The megapound per square inch (Mpsi) is another multiple equal to a million psi. It is used in mechanics for the elastic modulus of materials, especially for metals. [5]

The conversion in SI units is 1 Mpsi = 6.895 GPa, or 1 GPa = 0.145 Mpsi.

## Conversions

The conversions to and from SI are computed from exact definitions but result in an inexact number that must be rounded at some point. [6] [7]

${\displaystyle P_{\text{Pa}}=P_{\text{PSI}}\times {\frac {(0.45359237~{\text{kg}}\times 9.80665~{\text{m}}/{\text{s}}^{2})/{\text{lbf}}}{(0.0254~{\text{m}}/{\text{in}})^{2}}}}$

${\displaystyle P_{\text{PSI}}=P_{\text{Pa}}\times {\frac {(0.0254~{\text{m}}/{\text{in}})^{2}}{(0.45359237~{\text{kg}}\times 9.80665~{\text{m}}/{\text{s}}^{2})/{\text{lbf}}}}}$

As the pascal is very small unit, relative to industrial pressures, the kilopascal is commonly used. 1000 kPa ≈ 145 lbf/in2.

Approximate conversions (rounded to some arbitrary number of digits, except when denoted by "≡") are shown in the following table.

Pressure units
Pascal Bar Technical atmosphere Standard atmosphere Torr Pounds per square inch
(Pa)(bar)(at)(atm)(Torr)(lbf/in2)
1 Pa≡ 1 N/m210−51.0197×10−59.8692×10−67.5006×10−30.000 145 037 737 730
1 bar105≡ 100 kPa

106  dyn/cm2

1.01970.98692750.0614.503 773 773 022
1 at98066.50.980665≡ 1 kgf/cm20.967 841 105 354 1735.559 240 114.223 343 307 120 3
1 atm1013251.013251.0332176014.695 948 775 514 2
1 Torr133.322 368 4210.001 333 2240.001 359 511/760 ≈ 0.001 315 7891 Torr

≈ 1  mmHg

0.019 336 775
1 lbf/in26894.757 293 1680.068 947 5730.070 306 9580.068 045 96451.714 932 572≡ 1 lbf/in2

## Related Research Articles

Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions being used today are the mechanical horsepower, which is about 745.7 watts, and the metric horsepower, which is approximately 735.5 watts.

Pressure measurement is the analysis of an applied force by a fluid on a surface. Pressure is typically measured in units of force per unit of surface area. Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of pressure and vacuum. Instruments used to measure and display pressure in an integral unit are called pressure meters or pressure gauges or vacuum gauges. A manometer is a good example, as it uses the surface area and weight of a column of liquid to both measure and indicate pressure. Likewise the widely used Bourdon gauge is a mechanical device, which both measures and indicates and is probably the best known type of gauge.

Pressure is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the ambient pressure.

The torr is a unit of pressure based on an absolute scale, defined as exactly 1/760 of a standard atmosphere. Thus one torr is exactly 101325/760 pascals (≈ 133.32 Pa).

Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure, is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere is a unit of pressure defined as 101,325 Pa, which is equivalent to 760 mm Hg, 29.9212 inches Hg, or 14.696 psi. The atm unit is roughly equivalent to the mean sea-level atmospheric pressure on Earth, that is, the Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately 1 atm.

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is defined as one newton per square metre. The unit of measurement called standard atmosphere (atm) is defined as 101325 Pa.

The newton is the International System of Units (SI) derived unit of force. It is named after Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on classical mechanics, specifically Newton's second law of motion.

The pound of force or pound-force is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement including English Engineering units and the Foot–pound–second system. Pound-force should not be confused with foot-pound, a unit of energy, or pound-foot, a unit of torque, that may be written as "lbf⋅ft"; nor should these be confused with pound-mass, often simply called pound, which is a unit of mass.

Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials the ultimate tensile strength is close to the yield point, whereas in ductile materials the ultimate tensile strength can be higher.

The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), which is the atmospheric pressure on earth at an altitude of about 111 meters and a temperature of 15 °C or slightly less than the current average pressure at sea level.

The standard atmosphere is a unit of pressure defined as 101325 Pa. It is sometimes used as a reference or standard pressure. It is approximately equal to the atmospheric pressure at sea level.

In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. One definition of material toughness is the amount of energy per unit volume that a material can absorb before rupturing. It is also defined as a material's resistance to fracture when stressed.

A millimetre of mercury is a manometric unit of pressure, formerly defined as the extra pressure generated by a column of mercury one millimetre high, and currently defined as exactly 133.322387415 pascals. It is denoted mmHg or mm Hg.

Cold inflation pressure is the inflation pressure of tires before the car is driven and the tires warmed up. Recommended cold inflation pressure is displayed on the owner's manual and on the placard attached to the vehicle door edge, pillar, glovebox door or fuel filler flap. 40% of passenger cars have at least one tires under-inflated by 6 psi or more. Drivers are encouraged to make sure their tires are adequately inflated, as suboptimal tire pressure can greatly reduce fuel economy, increase emissions, increased wear on the edges of the tire surface, and can lead to premature failure of the tire. Excessive pressure, on the other hand, may lead to impact-breaks, decrease braking performance, and cause uneven wear.

A standard cubic foot (scf) is a unit used both in the natural gas industry to represent an amount of natural gas and in other industries where other gases are used. It is the unit commonly used when following the US Customary System, a collection of standards set by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Another unit used for the same purpose is the standard cubic meter, customary when using SI units.

The foot–pound–second system or FPS system is a system of units built on three fundamental units: the foot for length, the (avoirdupois) pound for either mass or force, and the second for time.

Ground pressure is the pressure exerted on the ground by the tires or tracks of a motorized vehicle, and is one measure of its potential mobility, especially over soft ground. It also applies to the feet of a walking person or machine. Ground pressure is measured in pascals (Pa) which corresponds to the United States customary units unit of pounds per square inch (psi). Average ground pressure can be calculated using the standard formula for average pressure: P = F/A. In an idealized case, i.e. a static, uniform net force normal to level ground, this is simply the object's weight divided by contact area. The ground pressure of motorized vehicles is often compared to the ground pressure of a human foot, which can be 60 – 80 kPa while walking or as much as 13 MPa for a person in spike heels.

Inches of water, inches of water gauge (iwg or in.w.g.), inches water column (inch wc or just wc), inAq, Aq, or inH2O is a non-SI unit for pressure. The units are conventionally used for measurement of certain pressure differentials such as small pressure differences across an orifice, or in a pipeline or shaft.

Sectional density is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross sectional area with respect to a given axis. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed to overcome resistance along that axis.

The metresea water (msw) is a unit of pressure used in underwater diving. It is defined as one tenth of a bar.

## References

1. IEEE Standard Letter Symbols for Units of Measurement (SI Units, Customary Inch-Pound Units, and Certain Other Units), IEEE Std 260.1™-2004 (Revision of IEEE Std 260.1-1993)
2. "Glossary of Industrial Air Cleaning Technology". United Air Specialists, Inc. Archived from the original on August 1, 2011.
3. "Gage v. Sealed v. Absolute pressure" (PDF). Dynisco.
4. "Tensile Strength of Steel and Other Metals". All Metals & Forge Group. Retrieved 2016-07-26. A metal’s yield strength and ultimate tensile strength values are expressed in tons per square inch, pounds per square inch or thousand pounds (KSI) per square inch. For example, a tensile strength of a steel that can withstand 40,000 pounds of force per square inch may be expressed as 40,000 PSI or 40 KSI (with K being the [multiplier] for thousands of pounds). The tensile strength of steel may also be shown in MPa, or megapascal.
5. BS 350: Part 1: 1974 – Conversion factors and tables. British Standards Institution. 1974. p. 49. ISBN   0 580 08471 X.