In the field of vacuum technology, "absolute vacuum" and "relative vacuum"
are two core concepts that not only have significant differences in theory, but
also have their own characteristics in practical engineering applications. This
article will systematically analyze the definitions, measurement methods, and
conversion relationships of these two. 
1、 Basic Concept Analysis Absolute vacuum (also known as absolute pressure or ultimate vacuum) is a
measurement method that uses theoretical vacuum as the zero point reference to
indicate how much pressure is higher than theoretical vacuum. Its values are all
positive, and the smaller the value, the closer it is to the theoretical vacuum
state. The international vacuum industry generally adopts this scientific
labeling method, usually with "abs." as the suffix. Relative vacuum (also known as relative pressure or gauge pressure) is
based on the atmospheric pressure at the measurement location, representing the
difference between the pressure of the object being measured and the atmospheric
pressure. Its value is represented by a negative number (often omitting the
negative sign), and the larger the absolute value, the higher the vacuum degree,
usually with "g" as the suffix. 2、 Measurement method and unit Absolute vacuum needs to be measured using an absolute pressure gauge.
Under standard conditions (20 ° C, 0 meters above sea level), the initial value
of the gauge is 101.325KPa (1 standard atmosphere). The relative vacuum is
measured using a regular vacuum gauge, with an initial value of 0 at atmospheric
pressure and a measurement range of 0 to -101.325KPa. The commonly used units of vacuum degree include: International units: Pa (pascal) hPa、KPa、MPa Other units: Torr, mmHg, mbar, bar, etc 3、 Actual application differences In industrial practice: Absolute vacuum is mainly used in high-precision fields, such as: The liquid ring pump is marked with a vacuum degree of 3300Pa Double stage rotary vane pump with vacuum degree marked as 0.06Pa Relative vacuum is widely used in China due to its simple measurement and
widespread use of instruments (such as ordinary vacuum gauges, which are
inexpensive). For example, if the measured value of a vacuum pump is -75KPa, it
means that it can pump to a state that is 75KPa lower than atmospheric
pressure. 4、 Conversion Relationship and Examples The two can be converted to each other through formulas: ``` Absolute vacuum degree=atmospheric pressure+relative vacuum degree Relative vacuum degree=Absolute vacuum degree - Air pressure at the
measurement location ``` Typical application cases: When the experiment requires 0.08MPa (gauge pressure), which means a
relative vacuum degree of -800mbar, the corresponding absolute vacuum degree is
213mbar (assuming atmospheric pressure is 1013mbar) A certain micro vacuum pump VM8001 has an absolute pressure of 80KPa, and
at standard atmospheric pressure (100KPa), the relative vacuum degree displayed
is -20KPa (-0.02MPa) 5、 Vacuum area division According to the pressure range, it can be divided into: Low vacuum: 760~10 Torr (101325~1333 Pa) Medium vacuum: 10~10 ?3 Torr (1333-1.33 × 10 ?1 Pa) High vacuum: 10 ?3~10 ?? Torr (1.33 × 10 ?1~10 ?? Pa) Ultra high vacuum: 10 ??~10 ?12 Torr (10 ??~10 ?1? Pa) Extremely high vacuum:<10 ?12 Torr (<10 ?1? Pa) Theoretical absolute vacuum (completely devoid of matter) is difficult to
achieve in reality, even in high vacuum environments where trace gas molecules
and quantum fluctuations still exist. Therefore, in engineering applications,
more attention is paid to the achievable "relative vacuum" state.
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