# How do I calculate the weight that PSI can lift? [closed]

Imagine that there's a force that is given to you in $psi$, say $1450\ psi$. And there's some body of weight say, $100\ kg$.

What I want to know is that, how much $psi$ will I need to lift the "body" above the ground? Is there any formula to calculate the same?

Moreover, I'd like to know that how much $kg$ can $1450\ psi$ lift above the ground?

• PSI is a unit of pressure not of force. As the name says it is "pounds of force per square inch", if you have a piston of the area of 1 square inch, with a pressure of one PSI a force of 1 pound will be exerted on the piston. – Sebastian Riese Jul 19 '15 at 16:57

Since pressure is defined as force per unit area, $p = \frac{F}{A} \Leftrightarrow pA = F$, the pressure needed to make a body with the mass $m$ "hover" can be described as $\frac{mg}{A}$, where $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity and $A$ the area of which the pressure is applied on.
To lift 100 kg (220 lbs) using a pressure of 1450 psi (about 100 atm), the minimum area needed to apply this force is: $$area=\frac {220\ lbs}{1450\ psi}$$ $$area=0.152\ in^2$$