You are on page 1of 14

Atmospheric Pressure

What is Atmospheric Pressure?


Atmospheric pressure is defined as the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of the air above that surface. Low-pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location, whereas highpressure areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. Likewise, as elevation increases, there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so that pressure decreases with increasing elevation.

In that diagram, the pressure at point "X" increases as the weight of the air above it increases. The same can be said about decreasing pressure, where the pressure at point "X" decreases if the weight of the air above it also decreases. The weight of the air pressing down on the Earth, the ocean and on the air below causes air pressure. Earth's gravity, of course, causes the downward force that we know as "weight." Since the pressure depends upon the amount of air above the point where you're measuring the pressure, the pressure decreases as you go higher.

Standard Atmospheric Pressure


The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure and is defined as being equal to 101.325 kPa. In 1999, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry(IUPAC) said that for the purposes of specifying the properties of substances, the standard pressure should be defined as precisely 100 kPa (750.01 torr) or 29.53 inches Hg rather than the 101.325 kPa value of one standard atmosphere. This value is used as the standard pressure for the compressor and the pneumatic tool industries

The National Weather Service reports surface air pressure in inches of mercury, while air pressure aloft is reported in millibars, also known as hectopascals (hPa). Scientists generally use hectopascals to measure air pressure. In the rest of the world, measurements are usually given in hectopascals, although you'll sometimes see them in centimeters of mercury, especially on older barometers.

The term hectopascals is replacing the term millibars. The hectopascal is a direct measure of pressure, like pounds per square inch, but in the metric system. Since the measurement is in the metric system, 1,000 millibars equal one bar. A bar is a force of 100,000 Newtons acting on a square meter, which is too large of a unit to be a convenient measure of Earth's air pressure.

Air pressure is also called barometric pressure because barometers are used to measure it. Inches of mercury and centimeters of mercury measure how high the pressure pushes the mercury in a barometer.

Gravity
Gravity affects the atmosphere because the molecules in the air are pulled by gravitational forces. The pressure on the molecules will hinge on the amount of gravity present. For instance, there is less barometric pressure on the Moon than on the Earth because the gravity there is lesser.

Density
Mass air density influences pressure. If the air is dense, the higher the barometric will be, and vice versa. The atmospheric pressure is essential for life on Earth to flourish. As the facts show, it has an effect on people and other living organisms. An understanding of how it works can help you get insights on why it is so vital.

Water boils at 100C or does it? Actually, it depends on the atmospheric pressure at the ... place where youre boiling water. The boiling point of water that were most familiar with (100C) is understood to be taken in normal conditions at sea level, where the atmospheric pressure is about 101,325 Pa. At the boiling point, water molecules in gaseous form are able to escape rapidly from the molecules in liquid form. One thing that can slow them down is the weight (and subsequently, pressure) of the atmosphere.

If the atmospheric pressure is low, then the body of air weighing down on those water molecules should also be lighter. As a result, the water molecules can easily escape rapidly (which happens during boiling). By contrast, if the atmospheric pressure is higher, then the water molecules cannot escape rapidly as easily. Therefore, water should boil at a lower temperature at high altitudes.

Now, the atmosphere generally thins out as we climb to higher elevations. Why is that so? Because even air has weight. So if you pile layer upon layer of air, the layers underneath have to bear the weight of the ones on top, and hence are more compressed. As we can see, the consequence of the atmospheres thinning out as we climb to higher elevations is a gradual decrease in atmospheric pressure. It is because of this thinning and decreasing atmospheric pressure that climbers find it difficult to breathe at extremely high altitudes. Thats why some of them have to bring tanks of air for expeditions at, say, Mount Everest.

The value of atmospheric pressure stated earlier, 101,325 Pa, is not so easy to recall. Luckily, this value is equivalent to 1 atm, where atm is an abbreviated form of the unit atmosphere. Yes, there is such a unit and it is normally used when mentioning the Earths atmospheric pressure. In other words, the atmospheric pressure at sea level during normal conditions is 1 atm. As you move higher, the corresponding atmospheric pressure gradually drops to values lower than this. For instance, the pressure of the atmosphere is roughly 0.5 atm at 5,486 m above sea level and 0.1 atm at 16,132 m above sea level.

You might also like