Orders of magnitude (pressure)
This is a tabulated listing of the orders of magnitude in relation to pressure expressed in pascals. psi values, prefixed with + and -, denote values relative to Earth's sea level standard atmospheric pressure (psig); otherwise, psia is assumed.
| Magnitude | Pressure | lbf/in2 or dB | Item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10−17 Pa | 10 aPa | Pressure in outer space in intergalactic voids | |
| 10−15 Pa | 1–10 fPa | Pressure in outer space between stars in the Milky Way | |
| 10−12 Pa | < 1 pPa | Lowest pressure obtained in laboratory conditions | |
| 10−10 Pa | |||
| 40 pPa | Atmosphere of the Moon at lunar day, very approximately (4×10−11 Pa) | ||
| 10−10 Pa | < 100 pPa | Extreme-high vacuum | |
| 100 pPa | Atmosphere of Mercury, very approximately (1×10−10 Pa) | ||
| 300 pPa | Atmosphere of the Moon at lunar night, very approximately (3×10−10 Pa) | ||
| 10−9 Pa | < 1 nPa | Vacuum expected in the beam pipe of the Large Hadron Collider's ATLAS experiment (operates at a pressure of 1 nPa to 10 nPa) | |
| ~1 nPa | Approximate solar wind pressure at Earth's distance from the Sun (variable) | ||
| 10−8 Pa | 10 nPa | Pressure inside a vacuum chamber for laser cooling of atoms (magneto-optical trap) | |
| 10–700 nPa | Atmospheric pressure in low Earth orbit, around 500 km altitude | ||
| 10−7 Pa | 100 nPa | Highest pressure still considered ultra-high vacuum | |
| 10−6 Pa | 0.1 - 10 μPa | Pressure inside a cathode ray tube (approximate) | |
| 1 μPa | Reference pressure for sound in water | ||
| 1 μPa | Pressure inside a vacuum tube (very approximate) | ||
| 10−5 Pa | 10 μPa | Radiation pressure of sunlight on a perfectly reflecting surface at the distance of the Earth. | |
| 20 μPa | 0 dB | Reference pressure for sound in air | |
| ±20 μPa | 0 dB | Threshold of human hearing | |
| 10−4 Pa | |||
| 10−3 Pa | 1–100 mPa | Vacuum pressures used for molecular distillation | |
| 10−2 Pa | |||
| 10−1 Pa | 100 mPa | Upper limit of high vacuum | |
| ~200 mPa | Atmospheric pressure on Pluto (1988 figure; very roughly) | ||
| 737.4 mPa | Pressure exerted by a single Letter-sized 20-lb sheet of paper laid flat. | ||
| 1 Pa | 1 Pa | Pressure exerted by a US dollar bill resting flat on a surface | |
| 1 Pa | Upper limit of molecular distillation, where the mean free path of molecules is larger than the equipment size | ||
| 10 Pa | 10 Pa | Pressure increase per millimeter of a water column at Earth mean sea level | |
| 10 Pa | Pressure due to direct impact of a gentle breeze (~9 mph or 14 km/h) | ||
| 86 Pa | Pressure from the weight of a U.S. penny lying flat | ||
| 102 Pa | 100 Pa | Pressure due to direct impact of a strong breeze (~28 mph or 45 km/h) | |
| 120 Pa | Pressure from the weight of a U.S. quarter lying flat | ||
| 133 Pa | 1 torr ≈ 1 mmHg | ||
| ±200 Pa | ~140 dB | Threshold of pain pressure level for sound where prolonged exposure may lead to hearing loss | |
| ±300 Pa | ±0.043 psi | Lung air pressure difference moving the normal breaths of a person (only 0.3% of standard atmospheric pressure) | |
| 400–900 Pa | 0.06–0.13 psi | Atmospheric pressure on Mars, < 1% of atmospheric sea-level pressure on Earth | |
| 610 Pa | 0.089 psi | Partial vapor pressure at the triple point of water (611.657 Pa) | |
| 103 Pa | 1–10 kPa | Typical explosion peak overpressure needed to break glass windows (approximate) | |
| 2 kPa | Pressure of popping popcorn (very approximate) | ||
| 2.6 kPa | 0.38 psi | Pressure at which water boils at room temperature (22 °C) (20 mmHg) | |
| 5 kPa | 0.8 psi | Blood pressure fluctuation (40 mmHg) between heartbeats for a typical healthy adult | |
| 6.3 kPa | 0.9 psi | Pressure where water boils at normal human body temperature (37 °C), the pressure below which humans absolutely cannot survive (Armstrong limit) | |
| +9.8 kPa | +1.4 psi | Lung pressure that a typical person can exert (74 mmHg) | |
| 104 Pa | 10 kPa | 1.5 psi | Pressure increase per meter of a water column |
| 10 kPa | 1.5 psi | Decrease in air pressure when going from Earth sea level to 1000 m elevation | |
| +13 kPa | +1.9 psi | High air pressure for human lung, measured for trumpet player making staccato high notes | |
| < +16 kPa | +2.3 psi | Systolic blood pressure in a healthy adult while at rest (< 120 mmHg) (gauge pressure) | |
| +19.3 kPa | +2.8 psi | High end of lung pressure, exertable without injury by a healthy person for brief times | |
| +34 kPa | +5 psi | Level of long-duration blast overpressure (from a large-scale explosion) that would cause most buildings to collapse | |
| 34 kPa | Atmospheric pressure at the summit of Mount Everest | ||
| +70 kPa | +10 psi | Pressure for paint exiting an HVLP (low-pressure) paint spray gun | |
| 70 kPa | Pressure inside an incandescent light bulb | ||
| 75 kPa | Minimum airplane cabin pressure and lowest pressure for normal breathing (at 2440 m) and also the limit stated by the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) | ||
| 80 kPa | 12 psi | Pressure inside vacuum cleaner at sea level on Earth (80% of standard atmospheric pressure) | |
| 87 kPa | 13 psi | Record low atmospheric pressure for typhoon/hurricane (Typhoon Tip in 1979) (only 86% of standard atmospheric pressure) | |
| 105 Pa | 100 kPa | 15 psi | 1 bar (14.5 psi), approximately equal to the weight of one kilogram (1 kilopond) acting on one square centimeter |
| 101.325 kPa | 15 psi | Standard atmospheric pressure for Earth sea level (14.7 psi) | |
| 150 to > 550 kPa | 25 to > 80 psi | Impact pressure of a fist punch (approximate) | |
| +180 to +250 kPa | +26 to +36 psi | Air pressure in an automobile tire relative to atmosphere (gauge pressure) | |
| +210 to +900 kPa | +30 to +130 psi | Air pressure in a bicycle tire relative to atmosphere (gauge pressure) | |
| 300 kPa | 50 psi | Water pressure of a garden hose | |
| 300 to 700 kPa | 50–100 psi | Typical water pressure of a municipal water supply in the US | |
| 358 to 524 kPa | 52-76 psi | Threshold of pain for objects outside the human body hitting it | |
| 400 to 600 kPa | 60–90 psi | Carbon dioxide pressure in a champagne bottle | |
| 520 kPa | 75 psi | Partial vapour pressure at the triple point of carbon dioxide | |
| +690 to +830 kPa | +100 to +120 psi | Air pressure in a heavy truck/bus tire relative to atmosphere (gauge pressure) | |
| 800 kPa | 120 psi | Vapor pressure of water in a kernel of popcorn when the kernel ruptures | |
| 106 Pa | 0.8–2 MPa | 120–290 psi | Pressure used in boilers of steam locomotives |
| 1.1 MPa | 162 psi | Pressure of an average human bite | |
| 2.8–8.3 MPa | 400–1,200 psi | Pressure of carbon dioxide propellant in a paintball gun | |
| 5 MPa | 700 psi | Water pressure of the output of a coin-operated car wash spray nozzle | |
| 5 MPa | 700 psi | Military submarine max. rated pressure (est.) of Seawolf-class nuclear submarine, at depth of 500 m | |
| 10-21 MPa | 1,500–3,000 psi | Chamber pressure of a high-powered (non-carbon dioxide) air gun | |
| 6.9–27 MPa | 1,000–4,000 psi | Water spray pressure used by pressure washers | |
| 9.2 MPa | 1,300 psi | Atmosphere of Venus | |
| 107 Pa | > 10 MPa | > 1,500 psi | Pressure exerted by a 45 kg person wearing stiletto heels when a heel hits the floor |
| 15.5 Mpa | 2,250 psi | Primary coolant loop of a pressurized water reactor | |
| 20 MPa | 2,900 psi | Typical pressure used for hydrogenolysis reactions | |
| 21 MPa | 3,000 psi | Pressure of a typical aluminium scuba tank of pressurized air (210 bar) | |
| 21 MPa | 3,000 psi | Ballistic pressure exerted as high-power bullet strikes a solid bulletproof object | |
| 22 MPa | 3,200 psi | Critical pressure of water | |
| 28 MPa | 4,100 psi | Overpressure caused by the bomb explosion during the Oklahoma City bombing | |
| 40 MPa | 5,800 psi | Water pressure at the depth of the wreck of the Titanic | |
| 69 MPa | 10,000 psi | Water pressure withstood by the DSV Shinkai 6500 in visiting ocean depths of > 6500 meters | |
| 70 to 280 MPa | 10,000 to 40,000 psi | Maximal chamber pressure during a pistol firing | |
| 108 Pa | 110 MPa | 16,000 psi | Pressure at bottom of Mariana Trench, about 11 km below ocean surface (1100 bar) |
| 100 to 300 MPa | 15,000 to 44,000 psi | Pressure inside reactor for the synthesis of high-pressure polyethylene (HPPE) | |
| 250 MPa | 36,000 psi | Record diesel engine common rail fuel system pressure | |
| 400 MPa | 58,000 psi | Chamber pressure of late 1910s .50 Browning machine gun discharge | |
| 240–620 MPa | 35,000–90,000 psi | Water pressure used in a water jet cutter | |
| 109 Pa | 1 GPa | Extremely high-pressure chemical reactors (10 kbar) | |
| 1.5 GPa | Diamond melts using a 3 kJ laser without turning into graphite first | ||
| 1.5 GPa | 220,000 psi | tensile strength of Inconel 625 according to Aircraft metal strength tables and the Mil-Hdbk-5 | |
| 5.8 GPa | 840,000 psi | Ultimate tensile strength of the polymer Zylon | |
| 1010 Pa | 10 GPa | Pressure at which octaoxygen forms at room temperature (100,000 bar) | |
| 18 GPa | Pressure needed for the first commercially successful synthesis of diamond | ||
| 24 to 110 GPa | Stability range of enstatite in its perovskite-structured polymorph, possibly the most common mineral inside the Earth | ||
| 40 GPa | Quantum-mechanical electron degeneracy pressure in a block of copper | ||
| 48 GPa | Detonation pressure of pure CL-20, the most powerful high explosive in mass production | ||
| 69 GPa | 10,000,000 psi | Highest water jet pressure attained in research lab | |
| 96 GPa | Pressure at which metallic oxygen forms (960,000 bar) | ||
| 1011 Pa | 100 GPa | Theoretical tensile strength of a carbon nanotube (CNT) | |
| 130 GPa | Ultimate tensile strength of monolayer graphene | ||
| 360 GPa | Pressure inside Earth's inner core (3.64 million bar) | ||
| 495 GPa | Lower bound at which metallic hydrogen theoretically forms | ||
| > 600 GPa | Pressure attainable with a diamond anvil cell | ||
| 1012 Pa | 5 TPa | Pressure generated by the National Ignition Facility fusion reactor | |
| 1013 Pa | 10 TPa | solid matter changes to the metastable inner-shell molecular state | |
| 32.9 TPa | Pressure at which metallic helium theoretically forms | ||
| 1014 Pa | 100 TPa | Pressure generated by the extremely high-pressure laser implosion plasmas generator. | |
| 208.4 TPa | Pressure at which metallic neon theoretically forms (the highest metallization pressure for any element) | ||
| 540 TPa | Pressure inside an "Ivy Mike"-like nuclear bomb detonation (5.3 billion bar) | ||
| 1015 Pa | 6.5 PPa | Pressure inside a W80 nuclear warhead detonation (64 billion bar) | |
| 1016 Pa | 25 PPa | Pressure inside Sun's core (250 billion bar) | |
| 1023 Pa | 100 EPa - 100 YPa | Pressure inside the core of a white dwarf at the Chandrasekhar limit | |
| 1032 Pa | 3.2-160 QPa | Pressure range inside a neutron star | |
| 1035 Pa | Approximate pressure at the center of a proton | ||
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 10113 Pa | 4.6×10113 Pa | 6.7×10109 psi | The Planck pressure (4.63×10108 bar) |