Torr

torr
torr
Unit of	pressure
Symbol	Torr
Named after	Evangelista Torricelli
Definition	1/760 atm
Conversions
1 Torr in ...	... is equal to ...
SI derived units	133.3224 Pa
British Gravitational System	0.01933677 psi

The torr (symbol: Torr) is a unit of pressure based on an absolute scale, defined as exactly 1/760 of a standard atmosphere (101325 Pa). Thus one torr is exactly 101325/760 pascals (≈ 133.32 Pa).

Historically, one torr was intended to be the same as one "millimeter of mercury", but subsequent redefinitions of the two units made them slightly different (by less than 0.000015%). The torr is not part of the International System of Units (SI). Even so, it is often combined with the metric prefix milli to name one millitorr (mTorr) or 0.001 Torr.

The unit was named after Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian physicist and mathematician who discovered the principle of the barometer in 1644.^[1]

^ Devices similar to the modern barometer, using water instead of mercury, were studied by a number of scientists in the early 1640s (see History of the Barometer). Torricelli's explanation of the principle of the barometer appears in a letter to Michelangelo Ricci dated 11 June 1644.

[1] Devices similar to the modern barometer, using water instead of mercury, were studied by a number of scientists in the early 1640s (see History of the Barometer). Torricelli's explanation of the principle of the barometer appears in a letter to Michelangelo Ricci dated 11 June 1644.

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