Need to convert pressure from one unit to another? Our free Pressure Converter makes it quick and easy. Enter a pressure value, choose the unit you are converting from and the unit you want, and get the converted result instantly. It supports common pressure units such as pascals, kilopascals, megapascals, bar, atmospheres, psi, mmHg, and inHg. It is useful for weather readings, tire pressure, engineering, science, HVAC, mechanical work, and everyday calculations.
How to Use the Pressure Converter
Using the Pressure Converter is simple. Enter a pressure value, choose the original unit, select the unit you want to convert to, and click Convert.
- Enter a pressure value.
- Select the unit under From.
- Select the unit under To.
- Click Convert.
- The converted pressure will appear instantly.
For example, enter 100, select Kilopascal (kPa) as the From unit and Bar as the To unit.
The result will be:
100 kPa = 1 bar
You can enter whole numbers or decimal values such as 14.7, 2.5, or 101.325.
What Is Pressure?
Pressure describes how much force is applied over a certain area.
In simple terms, when the same force is applied to a smaller area, the pressure is higher. When it is spread over a larger area, the pressure is lower.
Pressure is used in many areas of everyday life and technical work, including tire inflation, weather measurements, hydraulic systems, air compressors, engineering, and science.
Common Pressure Units
The Pressure Converter supports these commonly used units:
- Pascal (Pa)
- Kilopascal (kPa)
- Megapascal (MPa)
- Bar
- Millibar (mbar)
- Atmosphere (atm)
- Pounds per Square Inch (psi)
- Millimeters of Mercury (mmHg)
- Inches of Mercury (inHg)
- Kilogram-force per Square Centimeter (kgf/cm²)
Pascal
The pascal (Pa) is the SI unit of pressure.
One pascal represents one newton of force acting over one square meter.
Because the pascal is a relatively small unit, pressure is often expressed using larger units such as kilopascals and megapascals.
1 kPa = 1,000 Pa
1 MPa = 1,000,000 Pa
Kilopascal
The kilopascal (kPa) is widely used for pressure measurements.
For example:
100 kPa = 1 bar
Kilopascals are commonly encountered in weather information, engineering, science, and some tire pressure specifications.
Megapascal
A megapascal is equal to one million pascals.
1 MPa = 1,000,000 Pa
MPa is commonly used for higher-pressure applications such as hydraulic systems, engineering, materials, and industrial equipment.
Bar
The bar is a commonly used pressure unit.
1 bar = 100,000 Pa
Bar is frequently used for air pressure, tire pressure, compressors, industrial equipment, and other practical pressure measurements.
Millibar
A millibar is one-thousandth of a bar.
1 bar = 1,000 mbar
Millibars are commonly used in meteorology and weather reporting.
For example, atmospheric pressure may be reported in millibars in weather-related contexts.
Atmosphere
The standard atmosphere, written as atm, is based on a reference value for average atmospheric pressure.
1 atm = 101,325 Pa
It is commonly used in science, chemistry, physics, and discussions involving atmospheric pressure.
PSI
PSI means pounds per square inch.
It is widely used for tire pressure, air compressors, pressure equipment, and other applications, particularly in countries that commonly use U.S. customary units.
For example:
1 psi ≈ 6.89476 kPa
Millimeters of Mercury
Millimeters of mercury (mmHg) is a pressure unit traditionally associated with mercury-based pressure measurements.
It is commonly encountered in medical and scientific contexts.
For example:
760 mmHg = 1 standard atmosphere
Inches of Mercury
Inches of mercury (inHg) is another pressure unit based on the height of a mercury column.
It is commonly used in some weather and aviation applications.
For example:
29.92 inHg ≈ 1 standard atmosphere
Kilogram-Force per Square Centimeter
Kilogram-force per square centimeter (kgf/cm²) is a pressure unit that may be encountered in engineering and older technical specifications.
It represents the force of one kilogram-force applied over an area of one square centimeter.
The converter can convert kgf/cm² into other common pressure units such as bar, psi, kPa, and MPa.
Common Pressure Conversions
Some useful approximate conversions include:
| Pressure | Equivalent |
|---|---|
| 1 bar | 100 kPa |
| 1 atm | 101.325 kPa |
| 1 atm | 760 mmHg |
| 1 atm | 14.6959 psi |
| 1 psi | 6.89476 kPa |
| 1 MPa | 10 bar |
| 1 bar | 14.5038 psi |
| 1 bar | 1,000 mbar |
Values may be rounded for easier reading.
Bar to PSI
Bar and PSI are both commonly used for pressure measurements.
For example:
1 bar ≈ 14.5038 psi
So:
2 bar ≈ 29.0076 psi
This conversion can be useful when checking tire pressure or equipment specifications that use different measurement systems.
PSI to Bar
To convert PSI to bar, divide the PSI value by approximately 14.5038.
For example:
29.0076 psi ≈ 2 bar
The converter performs the calculation automatically.
kPa to PSI
Kilopascals and PSI are both used for pressure measurements.
For example:
100 kPa ≈ 14.5038 psi
This conversion can be useful when pressure specifications are provided in different units.
PSI to kPa
To convert PSI to kPa:
1 psi ≈ 6.89476 kPa
For example:
30 psi ≈ 206.843 kPa
This is useful when comparing pressure readings between metric and U.S. customary units.
Bar to kPa
The conversion between bar and kilopascals is straightforward:
1 bar = 100 kPa
Therefore:
2 bar = 200 kPa
and:
2.5 bar = 250 kPa
kPa to Bar
To convert kilopascals to bar, divide the value by 100.
For example:
250 kPa = 2.5 bar
This is useful when working with equipment specifications, weather readings, and other pressure measurements.
Pressure and Tire Inflation
Tire pressure is commonly displayed in PSI, bar, or kPa depending on the vehicle, country, and manufacturer.
For example, one vehicle may show a recommended pressure in PSI while a tire inflator displays kPa.
A pressure converter can make it easier to understand the same pressure in another unit.
Always follow the vehicle or tire manufacturer's recommended pressure rather than relying on a general conversion alone.
Pressure and Weather
Atmospheric pressure is an important part of weather observation.
Weather information may be reported using units such as hPa, mbar, inHg, or kPa.
Since:
1 hPa = 1 mbar
millibars and hectopascals have the same numerical value.
This converter uses mbar, which can be useful when working with atmospheric pressure values.
Pressure in Engineering
Pressure is important in mechanical and civil engineering, hydraulics, pneumatics, manufacturing, and industrial systems.
Different industries and equipment manufacturers may use different units.
A pressure converter can help when reading technical specifications or comparing measurements from different sources.
Pressure in Science
Pressure is used in physics, chemistry, meteorology, and many other scientific fields.
The pascal is the SI unit, but units such as atm, bar, mmHg, and psi are also commonly encountered.
Converting between units makes it easier to compare measurements and work with different formulas.
Pressure vs Force
Pressure and force are related but they are not the same thing.
Force describes a push or pull.
Pressure describes how that force is distributed over an area.
The basic relationship is:
Pressure = Force ÷ Area
This means that changing the area over which a force acts can change the pressure.
Why Are There So Many Pressure Units?
Different industries and regions developed different ways of measuring pressure over time.
For example, PSI is common in many automotive applications, bar is widely used for practical pressure measurements, kPa is common in metric systems, and mmHg is associated with certain scientific and medical measurements.
A converter allows these different units to be compared without manually calculating each conversion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SI unit of pressure?
The pascal (Pa) is the SI unit of pressure.
How many pascals are in one kilopascal?
1 kPa = 1,000 Pa.
How many kilopascals are in one bar?
1 bar = 100 kPa.
How many PSI are in one bar?
1 bar ≈ 14.5038 psi.
How many kPa are in one PSI?
1 psi ≈ 6.89476 kPa.
Is PSI the same as kPa?
No. PSI and kPa are different pressure units, but the same pressure can be expressed using either unit.
What is atmospheric pressure?
Atmospheric pressure is the pressure exerted by the Earth's atmosphere.
A standard atmosphere is defined as:
1 atm = 101,325 Pa
Is mmHg the same as atm?
No, but they are directly related.
1 standard atmosphere = 760 mmHg
Can I convert decimal pressure values?
Yes. You can enter decimal values such as 14.7, 29.92, 101.325, or 2.5.
Does the converter support tire pressure?
Yes. You can convert common tire pressure units such as PSI, bar, and kPa.
Does this converter support MPa?
Yes. You can convert between MPa and all the other pressure units included in the converter.
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