Convert Pressure from bar to pascals (bar to Pa)

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Single conversion

Bar to Pascal Conversion Formula

To convert a pressure from bar to pascals (Pa), multiply by 100,000.

  • Pa = bar × 100,000

The bar is defined as exactly 100,000 Pa, so this is an exact conversion — a five-place decimal shift, with no empirical constant and no rounding. In megapascals the same relationship reads 1 bar = 0.1 MPa.

The reference points follow directly:

  • 1 bar = 100,000 Pa
  • 1.01325 bar = 101,325 Pa — the standard atmosphere.

Step-by-Step Example

A pneumatic cylinder with a 50 mm bore runs on a 6 bar shop-air line, and the force it develops has to be calculated in newtons — which requires pascals, because a pascal is one newton per square meter:

  1. Convert the pressure: 6 × 100,000 = 600,000 Pa
  2. Compute the piston area: π × (0.025 m)² = 0.001963 m²
  3. Multiply: 600,000 × 0.001963 = 1,178 N

The cylinder pushes about 120 kgf. Only in pascals do the units cancel to give newtons directly; carrying bar into the formula would produce a number with no physical meaning.

Quick Reference Table

barPa
0.001100
0.011,000
1100,000
1.01325101,325
6600,000
25025,000,000

The Conversion That Makes Formulas Work

Bar is the unit pressures are stated in and pascal is the unit they are calculated in, so this conversion is the standard first line of a great many engineering calculations. Any formula that mixes pressure with SI mechanical quantities — force from a cylinder, stress in a vessel wall, flow through an orifice, energy stored in compressed gas — needs pascals, because the pascal is defined as N/m² and therefore cancels cleanly against meters, kilograms and seconds. Fluid mechanics makes the dependency especially visible: in Bernoulli's equation, ½ρv² produces pascals from kg/m³ and m/s, so the pressure term must be in pascals or the equation is simply inconsistent.

Two practical notes. First, the numbers get large quickly — 250 bar of hydraulic pressure is 25 million pascals — which is exactly why MPa is often preferred as the working unit in that range; 25 MPa is the same value in a more readable form, and this page's table doubles as an MPa table if you shift the decimal point five places. Second, gauge and absolute reference frames survive the conversion untouched: 6 bar gauge becomes 600,000 Pa gauge, not absolute. Gas-law calculations need the atmosphere added back, making the true figure about 701,325 Pa absolute.

How many bar are in one pascal? One pascal (Pa) contains 10-5 bar (bar) — the inverse of the factor above. Multiplying by 105 takes you from bar to pascals; multiplying by 10-5 brings you back.

Put in words: one bar equals 105 pascals, so the bar is the larger unit of this pair. Converting between them never changes the amount of pressure being measured — only the size of the unit you count it in.

What is a bar (bar)?

The bar is a metric unit of pressure.

It is defined as exactly 100 kilopascals (kPa), or 100,000 Pascals (Pa).

Although it is not an official part of the International System of Units (SI), it is widely accepted for use with the SI. The bar is a popular unit for measuring pressure because it is very close to the average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level.


Origin of the Bar

The term "bar" comes from the Greek word βάρος (baros), which means "weight."

The unit was introduced by British meteorologist William Napier Shaw in 1909. It is still widely used in meteorology, oceanography, and engineering.


Bar vs. Standard Atmosphere (atm)

A common point of confusion is the difference between a bar and a standard atmosphere (atm).

While they are very close in value, they are not the same:

  • 1 bar = 100,000 Pascals (Pa)
  • 1 atmosphere (atm) = 101,325 Pascals (Pa)

This means 1 bar is approximately equal to 0.987 atm. Because it's so close to atmospheric pressure and is a round number (100 kPa), the bar is a very convenient unit for many applications.


Common Applications of the Bar

The bar is a versatile unit used to measure pressure in many industrial and everyday contexts.

Common examples include:

  • Automotive: Measuring tire pressure (often listed on a car's door jamb alongside PSI).
  • Scuba Diving: Expressing the amount of air pressure inside diving tanks.
  • Weather: Used by meteorologists for weather forecasting and reading atmospheric pressure.
  • Plumbing & Pumps: Measuring water pressure in pipes and pump systems.
  • Industrial: Measuring air pressure in pneumatic equipment and gas pressure in cylinders for welding.

What is a Pascal (Pa)?

A pascal (Pa) is the standard unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI). It is a derived unit, meaning other base units define it.

The primary pascal definition is one newton of force applied over an area of one square meter (1 Pa = 1 N/m2).

Because a single pascal represents a very small amount of pressure, it is most often seen in multiples.

The most common multiples are the kilopascal (kPa), equal to 1,000 pascals, and the megapascal (MPa), equal to 1,000,000 pascals.

These units are widely used in fields from weather forecasting to material science.


Who is the Pascal Unit Named After?

The pascal (Pa) unit is named in honor of Blaise Pascal, a key 17th-century French mathematician, physicist, and inventor.

His groundbreaking work on how fluids behave under pressure (known as hydrodynamics and hydrostatics) and his formulation of Pascal's Law were essential to our modern understanding of pressure.


Understanding the Scale of a Pascal in Real Life

To understand just how small a single pascal is, here are two real-world examples:

  • A dollar bill: The gentle pressure of a single U.S. dollar bill resting flat on a table is about 1 Pa.
  • Atmospheric pressure: The standard atmospheric pressure you feel at sea level is approximately 101,325 pascals (or 101.3 kPa).

This shows why, for most everyday measurements (like tire pressure or weather), the larger kilopascal (kPa) is much more practical.

bar to pascal Conversion Table

Here are some quick reference conversions from bar (bar) to pascal (Pa):

barpascals
0.000001 bar0.1 Pa
0.001 bar100 Pa
0.1 bar104 Pa
1 bar105 Pa
2 bar200000 Pa
3 bar300000 Pa
4 bar400000 Pa
5 bar500000 Pa
6 bar600000 Pa
7 bar700000 Pa
8 bar800000 Pa
9 bar900000 Pa
10 bar106 Pa
20 bar2000000 Pa
30 bar3000000 Pa
40 bar4000000 Pa
50 bar5000000 Pa
100 bar107 Pa
1000 bar108 Pa
10000 bar109 Pa

This conversion in other languages

Engineering datasheets across Europe write bar to pascal several different ways. The calculation is the same in every one of them.

LanguageWritten asUnit names
Frenchbar en Pabarpascal
Spanishbar a Pabarpascal
Dutchbar naar Pabarpascal
Germanbar in PaBarPascal
Polishbar na Pabarpaskal