How do you rank the following measurements in order of increasing pressure: 4 kPa, .3 Pa, 16 N /m^2, 311 N /m^2?

1 Answer
Feb 13, 2017

See explanation.

Explanation:

To sort the values you have to transform them to the same unit. The basic unit of pressure is pascal (Pa) which can be written as:

1Pa=1N/m^2

The prefix kilo (k) means 1,000 (one thousand). So the values (unsorted, in Pa) are:

4kPa=4,000Pa

.3Pa=0.3 Pa

16 N/m^2=16Pa

311 N/m^2=311 Pa

Now, when all values are in the same units I can sort them:

0.3Pa < 16 N/m^2 < 311 N/m^2 < 4kPa