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Glite Dictionary
psia

psia

9.9
Pressure measured in pounds per square inch from a complete vacuum
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : psia
  • The engine operates efficiently at 14.7 psia under normal atmospheric conditions.

Examples

  • A variety of plug-in pressure models allows measurement to 5000 psia, 50 psia, and 15 psi vac.

    Academic text (1993)

  • It is available in pressure ranges from 10 to 20,000 psig or psia.

    Academic text (2001)

  • WOMAN: Confirmed, 21 psia.

    Moonraker (1979)

  • WOMAN: Confirmed, 42.5 psia.

    Moonraker (1979)

  • A variety of plug-in pressure models allows measurement to 5000 psia, 50 psia, and 15 psi vac.

    Academic text (1993)

  • To maintain accurate readings, the gauge should be calibrated to display pressure in psia.

  • When measuring vacuum pressure, it's important to convert to psia for clear comparisons.

Synonyms

pounds per square inch
vspsia
  • Specialized
7 3.4

A unit that measures pressure equal to one pound of force on one square inch

measures that pressure relative to a perfect vacuum in technical use

Surface Forms

psia singular
psias plural

Morphology

psia = p + s + i + a

psia is an initialism (pounds per square inch absolute); the letters stand for separate words rather than productive English morphemes, so knowing individual letters or parts does not let learners derive the meaning.

Etymology

Psia comes from the measurement psi plus the letter a, where psi stands for 'pounds per square inch' and the a means 'absolute'. So psia means pressure measured from a perfect vacuum, in other words with no air, which is why engineers use psia to show the total pressure in a system.