Tag Archives: pascal as a very small unit of pressure

Converting Measurement from Pounds Per Square Inch to Pascal

The pascal (Pa) is actually a very small unit of pressure. To show this, convert 1 Pa = 1N/m² to lb/ft². Atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.7 lb/in². How many pascals is this?

Engineering Mechanics: Statics 13th Edition by RC Hibbeler, Problem 1-7
Engineering Mechanics: Statics 14th Edition by RC Hibbeler, Problem 1-16

Solution:

First, we will convert 1 Pa to lb/ft².

\begin{align*}
1\ \text{Pa} & =\frac{1\:\text{N}}{\text{m}^2}\left(\frac{1\:\text{lb}}{4.4482\:\text{N}}\right)\left(\frac{0.3048^2\:\text{m}^2}{1\:\text{ft}^2}\right)\\
&=20.9\left(10^{-3}\right)\:\text{lb/ft}^2
\end{align*}

Next, we convert 14.7 lb/in2 to Pa

\begin{align*}
14.7 \ \text{lb/in}^2 & =\frac{14.7\:\text{lb}}{\text{in}^2}\left(\frac{4.448\:\text{N}}{1\:\text{lb}}\right)\left(\frac{144\:\text{in}^2}{1\:\text{ft}^2}\right)\left(\frac{1\:\text{ft}^2}{0.3048^2\:\text{m}^2}\right)\\
& =101.3\left(10^3\right)\:\text{N/m}^2\\
& =101.3\left(10^3\right) \text{Pa}\\
\end{align*}
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