kPa, or kilopascal, is a unit of pressure used in various scientific and engineering applications. It is part of the International System of Units (SI) and is equal to 1,000 pascals. The pascal is defined as one newton per square meter, making the kilopascal a convenient way to express pressures that are commonly encountered, such as atmospheric pressure. In everyday life, kPa is often used to measure tire pressure, weather conditions, and even in cooking processes like pressure cooking. For example, standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately 101.3 kPa, which helps in understanding how pressure affects various physical phenomena.