What is the best way to display pressure-unit conversions in a technical document?

Question

I'm working on a small pressure-conversion tool and I'm interested in how people normally present pressure values when documents or specifications use different units.

For example, a specification might give a value in kPa while the reader is more familiar with PSI.

Would it be better to display both values, such as 250 kPa (36.26 PSI), or provide a separate conversion tool?

I'm particularly interested in approaches that make technical information easier to understand without making the document look cluttered.

gary_sc · Accepted Answer

It depends on the audience. If this is for publication in a journal such the American Vacuum Society (I used to be a member), than the conversion is not needed. But, Scientific American is read by both professionals as well as lay people and might be better served with both. But if this is for a newspaper article, I’d just leave it as PSI. As you say, that is the one most people are familiar with.

For what it’s worth, I have the same problem with “torr.” I was brought up using that as a vacuum measurement. But now, most scientists use kPa.

DFWTechGuy · Answer

I’d display both values when the conversion is useful, for example 250 kPa (36.26 psi). This keeps the original specification clear while making it easier for readers who normally use PSI.

For tables with many values, separate columns for kPa and PSI would probably look cleaner. A separate conversion tool can still be useful when users need to convert their own values.

The main thing is to keep one unit as the primary/reference unit and use the conversion as a secondary value.

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