Pressure Calculator

Pressure, not the type we feel as humans, is something that is exerted on everything. Just how much is being applied? Use this tool to calculate that.

Required Information

Pressure:

What it is

What is Pressure?

Create Date: September 27, 2024

Last Modified Date: November 17, 2024

Pressure is the amount of force being pushed on or between two different things. Everything and everyone on earth experiences the effects of pressure. It also affects many different things in the world, from health and wellness to physics and how the world works, it truly is a vast concept.

How do you Calculate Pressure?

Pressure can be calculated with just two variables:

  • Force

  • Affected Area

Once you have the value of these fields you can use them in this formula to calculate for pressure:
An image showing the formula for calculating the amount of pressure applied.

Understanding Your Results

When you hit calculate you will be shown a single number which represents the amount of pressure that is being applied to the affected area based on your entries. This is shown in pascals by default but can be easily converted into a number of other units easily by selecting them from the dropdown menu.

How to Use the Pressure Tool

Using our pressure calculator tool is very simple and easy. There are only a few steps involved with using the tool. The steps include:

  1. Enter the force.

  2. Enter the total size of the affected area.

  3. Double-check your entries and the units you selected so they are properly aligned with your situation.

  4. Hit calculate and get the amount of pressure instantly!

Example Calculation

Let's say you want to see how much pressure is generated in a scenario where a car is crashing into a wall. The affected area is about 8 square feet and has about 62,500 newtons of force behind it. We can use this tool to calculate the amount of pressure by entering 62,500 into the force field and then 8 into the affected area field. We must also change the unit of the affected area field to square feet.

We can now hit calculate and we get an answer of 94,093.08634 pascals. If we need this value in pounds per square inch instead, we can choose that unit from the dropdown and get our answer automatically converted into it, which would be 12.19669.

Pressure - Frequently Asked Questions

The standard unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI) is the Pascal (Pa). A single Pascal is equal to one Newton per square meter. There are other units you can use to measure pressure, but Pascal is the widely used one.

There are 4 types of pressure:

  1. Atmospheric pressure
  2. Gauge pressure
  3. Absolute pressure
  4. Hydrostatic pressure

Absolute pressure is the pressure measured relative to a perfect vacuum, or somewhere there is zero pressure. Gauge pressure is relative to the surrounding atmospheric pressure, where the value can be positive or negative depending on whether its value is higher or lower than the atmospheric pressure.

The larger the area that force is applied to, the lower the pressure. If the area where force is applied is smaller, then pressure will be higher. Think of a knife: if it has a sharp edge, it is thinner and applies more pressure to a smaller area, making it cut better. If the knife is dull, it is making contact with a larger area, providing less pressure and less cutting capability.

No, pressure requires force to be applied to a certain area. Pressure arises from the interaction of particles that occurs due to force being applied to an area.

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