What is Atmospheric Pressure?

Air possesses weight and hence it exerts pressure like liquids because it possesses weight. The atmospheric pressure at a point is defined as the force acting normally on a unit area around that point, due to the total height of the air column of the atmosphere above it.

The value of it is maximum at sea level and decreases as we go to higher altitudes.

Its symbol is Pa and S.I. unit is newton per square meter (N m-2) or pascal (Pa).

Pa = 1.013 × 105 Nm-2.

Atmospheric Pressure

Earth’s atmosphere is like the blanket of many-kilometer high gases which timelessly wraps our planet. One of the basics of gas law is the statement that the air in the atmosphere presses down on us, creating something called air pressure. Luckily, our bodies can counterbalance this impact so we don’t really feel it. The air pressure is the highest next to the Earth’s surface, but it drops as you get higher and higher. This pressure is what we refer as atmospheric pressure, and it is about 1.01325 Pascal at sea level. Our body itself is quite used to this pressure but in very extreme essence like high altitudes, our nose might bleed because the pressure inside is higher than outside.

The gaseous envelope surrounding the earth from all around is called the atmosphere. It extends approximately up to 400 km. It contains air which is 72% nitrogen and 21% oxygen additionally to a little proportion of dioxide, chemical element, etc.

Similar Reads

What is Atmospheric Pressure?

Air possesses weight and hence it exerts pressure like liquids because it possesses weight. The atmospheric pressure at a point is defined as the force acting normally on a unit area around that point, due to the total height of the air column of the atmosphere above it....

Surface Pressure

The surface pressure is defined as the difference in interfacial tension between a clean interface and an interface in the presence of an emulsifier. The air pressure at a location on the surface (terrain and oceans) is called surface pressure, and it is proportional to the mass of air over that location....

Sea Level Pressure

The air pressure is adequate to the pressure exerted by a mercury column of height “h”. Atmospheric pressure = h × d × g, where h is the height of the mercury column, d the density of mercury, and g the acceleration due to gravity....

Mean Sea Level Pressure

The mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) is that the air pressure at the mean water level (PMSL). Normally in weather reports on radio, television, and newspapers or the Internet we see this atmospheric pressure. When barometers within the home are set to match the local weather reports, they display pressure adjusted to water level, not the particular local air pressure....

Variation in Altitude

Pressure on Earth varies with the altitude of the surface, so air pressure on mountains is usually lower than the air pressure on ground level. Pressure varies smoothly from the surface to the very best of the mesosphere. Although the pressure changes with the weather, NASA has averaged the conditions for all parts of the world year-round. As altitude increases, air pressure decreases. At a given altitude one can calculate the atmospheric pressure. Temperature and humidity also affect the air pressure, and it’s necessary to understand these to compute an accurate figure. The graph at right was developed for a temperature of 15 °C and a humidity of 0%....

Barometer

The earth’s air pressure at an associate degree given place is measured with an instrument known as the measuring instrument. The barometer is a perfect and commonplace instrument to measure air pressure. Within the barometer, the modification within the pressure is indicated on a dial by a pointer. The barometer was fictitious by physicists around 1644....

Applications on Atmospheric Pressure

Here are the applications of barometric pressure:...

Equation of Air Pressure

When air pressure is measured by a barometer, the pressure is additionally mentioned because of the “barometric pressure”. Assume a barometer with a cross-sectional area A, a height h, full of mercury from the lowest at Point B to the very best at Point C. The pressure at the rock bottom of the barometer, Point B, is capable of the air pressure. The pressure at the very top, Point C, is often taken as zero because there’s only mercury vapor above now and its pressure is extremely low relative to the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, one can find the air pressure using the barometer and this equation:...

Sample Questions on Atmospheric Pressure

Question 1. At a given place, a mercury barometer records a pressure of 0.50 m of Hg. If mercury in the barometer is replaced by water What would be the height of the water column? Take R.D. of mercury = 13.6....

FAQs on Atmospheric Pressure

What is atmospheric pressure? What techniques are used for its measurement?...