Pressure measures the amount of force pushing against something perpendicularly, such as the amount of force a gas applies to the inner wall of tires. Pressure is measured using a variety of units, including megapascals (MPa) and Newtons per square millimeter (N/mm^2). You may need to convert from megapascals if you are filling a tire with air and the tire lists the needed pressure in MPa but your pump measures pressure in N/mm^2. Since the conversion factor equals one MPa to one N/mm^2, the conversion between units is easy.
Multiply the number of MPa by 1,000,000 to convert to Pascals. The prefix "M" in the metric system stands for "mega-," representing 1,000,000. For example, 2 MPa equals 2,000,000 Pa.
Switch the units from Pa to N/m^2 (Newtons per meter squared) because these two units are equivalent. In this example, 2,000,000 Pa would become 2,000,000 N/m^2.
Divide the number of N/m^2 by 1,000,000 to find the pressure in N/mm^2, since there are 1,000,000 mm in one meter. In the example, divide 2,000,000 N/m^2 by 1,000,000 to get 2 N/mm^2.
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Mark Kennan is a writer based in the Kansas City area, specializing in personal finance and business topics. He has been writing since 2009 and has been published by "Quicken," "TurboTax," and "The Motley Fool."