I have seen both kPa and bars used in different countries in Europe for car tyre pressures. Germany uses kPa while the bar is an alternative to psi in the UK.
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of G. Stanley Doore Sent: 26 August 2011 20:34 To: U.S. Metric Association Cc: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:51022] RE: Millimetres of Mercury & Millibars of air pressure. Why not use the pascal instead of millibars? The numbers are the same although there is a shift in the decimal place. Regards, Stan Doore On Aug 25, 2011 2:40 AM, "Martin Vlietstra" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi John, > > > > The SI Brouchure (8th edition) has a section "Non-SI units accepted for use > with the SI, and units based on fundamental constants" which can be found at > http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/4-1.html. This leads into > Table 8 of the brochure where the use of "mm Hg" for the measurement of > blood pressure is specifically catalogued as being a permitted deviation > from "pure SI". The underlying reason is that this unit of measure is used > across the entire globe. If the Australian medical profession were to go it > alone and use kPa for measuring blood pressure, and Australian medical staff > were dispatched to help in a disaster zone, they would have problems > communicating with their colleagues from other countries. > > > > Air pressure is a different thing - bars convert to kPa by moving a decimal > point. > > > > > > _____ > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of John Candido > Sent: 25 August 2011 03:15 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:51014] Millimetres of Mercury & Millibars of air pressure. > > > > Hi, I live in Australia and we are predominantly a metric nation. However, > we have not been consistent with things such as the measurement of blood > pressure in medicine and air pressure in meteorology. The measurement of > blood pressure in millimetres of mercury instead of kPa (kilopascals) is a > prime example of this inconsistency. A normal blood pressure reading for an > adult in millimetres of mercury is 120 on 80, and its equivalent in kPa is > 16 on 10. In addition, what about the measurement of air pressure in > millibars, which is the current method? Will this be converted to > hectopascals of air pressure in the future? Thank you. > > > > Sincerely yours, John Candido. > > >
