MPa Unit - Pressure, Stress, and Strength Metric Unit
MPa stands for megapascal, and it's a pressure unit in the International System of Units (SI). Check out our MPa spreadsheet.
MPa Meaning#
The term MPa represents "megapascal", which is a pressure unit in the International System of Units (SI).
The M in MPa denotes mega, a prefix commonly used in the metric system meaning a million. Therefore, 1,000,000 Pa (pascal) equals 1 MPa.
MPa can be expressed in an equivalent form as N/mm² (newton per square milimiter): 1 MPa = 1 N/mm².
MPa Unit Usage#
The unit of MPa is well adapted to conveniently indicate stress and strength of common construction materials.
The concrete used in buildings, bridges, foundations, or dams uses to have a compressive strength of 30 to 50 MPa.
The reinforcing steel bars used to provide tensile strength to concrete structures frequently have a yield strength of 400 to 500 MPa.
MPa Common Conversions#
The table below shows a list of MPa values and their corresponding conversions across a spectrum of commonly used pressure units within similar contexts.
| MPa | kPa | GPa | ksi | psi | ksf | tsf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1000 | 0.001 | 0.15 | 145 | 20.89 | 10.44 |
| 2 | 2000 | 0.002 | 0.29 | 290 | 41.77 | 20.89 |
| 3 | 3000 | 0.003 | 0.44 | 435 | 62.66 | 31.33 |
| 4 | 4000 | 0.004 | 0.58 | 580 | 83.54 | 41.77 |
| 5 | 5000 | 0.005 | 0.73 | 725 | 104.43 | 52.21 |
| 6 | 6000 | 0.006 | 0.87 | 870 | 125.31 | 62.66 |
| 7 | 7000 | 0.007 | 1.02 | 1015 | 146.20 | 73.10 |
| 8 | 8000 | 0.008 | 1.16 | 1160 | 167.08 | 83.54 |
| 9 | 9000 | 0.009 | 1.31 | 1305 | 187.97 | 93.98 |
| 10 | 10000 | 0.010 | 1.45 | 1450 | 208.85 | 104.43 |
| 15 | 15000 | 0.015 | 2.18 | 2176 | 313.28 | 156.64 |
| 20 | 20000 | 0.020 | 2.90 | 2901 | 417.71 | 208.85 |
| 25 | 25000 | 0.025 | 3.63 | 3626 | 522.14 | 261.07 |
| 30 | 30000 | 0.030 | 4.35 | 4351 | 626.56 | 313.28 |
| 35 | 35000 | 0.035 | 5.08 | 5076 | 730.99 | 365.50 |
| 40 | 40000 | 0.040 | 5.80 | 5802 | 835.42 | 417.71 |
| 45 | 45000 | 0.045 | 6.53 | 6527 | 939.84 | 469.92 |
| 50 | 50000 | 0.050 | 7.25 | 7252 | 1044.27 | 522.14 |
| 55 | 55000 | 0.055 | 7.98 | 7977 | 1148.70 | 574.35 |
| 60 | 60000 | 0.060 | 8.70 | 8702 | 1253.13 | 626.56 |
| 65 | 65000 | 0.065 | 9.43 | 9427 | 1357.55 | 678.78 |
| 70 | 70000 | 0.070 | 10.15 | 10153 | 1461.98 | 730.99 |
| 75 | 75000 | 0.075 | 10.88 | 10878 | 1566.41 | 783.20 |
| 80 | 80000 | 0.080 | 11.60 | 11603 | 1670.83 | 835.42 |
| 85 | 85000 | 0.085 | 12.33 | 12328 | 1775.26 | 887.63 |
| 90 | 90000 | 0.090 | 13.05 | 13053 | 1879.69 | 939.84 |
| 95 | 95000 | 0.095 | 13.78 | 13779 | 1984.12 | 992.06 |
| 100 | 100000 | 0.100 | 14.50 | 14504 | 2088.54 | 1044.27 |
For even more detailed conversions and the ability to copy formulas into your custom spreadsheets, check out our 📒 MPa spreadsheet.
If you need to convert MPa to any other pressure units, use our 📱 MPa dedicated converter.