Pascal (unit)

The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the SI derived unit of pressure used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength. It is defined as one newton per square metre. It is named after the French polymath Blaise Pascal. Common multiple units of the pascal are the hectopascal (1 hPa = 100 Pa) which is equal to one millibar, and the kilopascal (1 kPa = 1000 Pa) which is equal to one centibar. The unit of measurement called standard atmosphere (atm) is defined as 101325 Pa. Meteorological reports in the United States typically state atmospheric pressure in millibars. In Canada these reports are given in kilopascals. The unit is named after Blaise Pascal, noted for his contributions to hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, and experiments with a barometer. The name pascal was adopted for the SI unit newton per square metre (N/m2) by the 14th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1971. The pascal can be expressed using SI derived units, or alternatively solely SI base units, as: where N is the newton, m is the metre, kg is the kilogram, s is the second, and J is the joule.