What is the equivalent of 1 pound per square inch in feet of water?

To understand why the equivalent of 1 pound per square inch is 2.31 feet of water, it's important to consider the relationship between pressure, fluid density, and height.

Pressure is defined as force per unit area. In the case of water, 1 pound per square inch (psi) represents the pressure exerted by a column of water. The key to converting psi to feet of water lies in knowing the density of water and the acceleration due to gravity, which plays a role in hydrostatic pressure calculations.

Water has a typical density of about 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. To convert pressure in psi to feet of water, you can use the fact that 1 psi is equivalent to the height of a water column that exerts that pressure.

Using the formula:

[

\text{Height (in feet)} = \frac{\text{Pressure (in psi)} \times 144}{\text{Density of water (in pounds per cubic foot)}}

]

Where 144 is the conversion factor to convert square inches to square feet, we can apply the values:

1 psi corresponds to a height of water that can be calculated as follows:

[

\text{Height} = \frac{1