§ DICTIONARY · UNIT
Pascal
The SI unit of pressure: 1 Pa = 1 N/m². Named for Blaise Pascal.
§ 01
Definition
One pascal is the pressure exerted by a force of one newton spread over one square metre. In practice it is a small unit: atmospheric pressure is about 101,325 Pa, or 101 kPa. The bar (100,000 Pa) and psi (pounds per square inch, ≈ 6895 Pa) remain common in engineering.
The unit was officially adopted by the CGPM in 1971, more than three centuries after Pascal's death.