Define pressure and give the common units for pressure.

The Pascal (symbolized as Pa) is the SI unit of pressure and is a vital concept in physics and engineering. It is defined as one newton per square meter. In practical terms, imagine the pressure exerted on a surface by a small apple gently resting on it – that's approximately equal to one Pascal.

The unit is named after Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physicist, and inventor who made significant contributions to the understanding of fluid mechanics and pressure. To visualize the Pascal, think of it as a very small amount of pressure, as it takes about 10,000 Pascals to equal one atmosphere of pressure.

The Pascal is important because it provides a standard measurement that can be used across different systems and applications, making scientific calculations and engineering designs more accurate and universally understandable.

The atmospheric unit, or simply 'atmosphere' represented as 'atm', is a unit of pressure that is approximately equal to the Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level. One atmosphere is defined as being precisely 101,325 Pascals.

The atmosphere unit is a helpful way to relate pressures to experiences that are familiar to us. For example, since it is based on the average pressure at sea level, when we say that a certain process occurs at 2 atm, we mean it takes place under a pressure twice that of the sea level atmospheric pressure.

Due to its relevance to our daily life and various scientific applications like scuba diving and weather forecasting, the atm is still commonly used despite the international preference for the Pascal in the SI system. It serves as a convenient reference for understanding and discussing pressures relative to the environment we live in.

Another unit of pressure is the Torr, named after Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian physicist and mathematician who discovered the principle of the barometer. One Torr is defined as 1/760 of an atmosphere, which equates to approximately 133.322 Pascals.

The Torr is closely connected with the millimeter of Mercury (mmHg) as they are virtually interchangeable. It was initially based on the amount of pressure required to raise a column of mercury one millimeter in a mercury barometer. Since mercury barometers were some of the first precise instruments for measuring pressure, this unit has a historical significance and it's still widely used in medical and scientific fields, especially for measuring blood pressure and vacuum pressures.

Understanding how to convert between different pressure units is crucial in scientific communications. It ensures that information can be accurately communicated and understood regardless of the unit system preferred in different countries or fields.

To convert between units of pressure, such as from Pascals to atmospheres or Torr to Pascals, specific equivalences must be used. For instance:

• 1 atm = 101,325 Pa = 760 Torr
• 1 Torr = 133.322 Pa
• To convert from Pa to atm, divide the number of Pascals by 101,325
• To convert from Torr to Pa, multiply the number of Torr by 133.322

Having a clear understanding of these conversions is not just an academic exercise but a practical necessity in various fields ranging from meteorology and aeronautics to medicine and chemical engineering.