Alexander Fufaev
My name is Alexander FufaeV and here I write about:

How Does a Barometer Work?

A simple barometer works by using the barometer formula, which relates the height \(h\) above the ground to the air pressure \( \mathit{\Pi} \) prevailing at that height:

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Barometric formula
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Exponential decrease of pressure with height.

Here \( H ~=~ 8005 \, \mathrm{m} \) and the mean air pressure at sea level is \(\mathit{\Pi}_0 = 101 \, \mathrm{kPa} = 1 \, \mathrm{bar} \). The formula states that the air pressure decreases exponentially with increasing height \( h \).

So an barometer measures the air pressure \( \mathit{\Pi} \) and calculates from it the height at which this air pressure prevails:

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Formula: Air pressure
h ~=~ 8005 \, \mathrm{m} \,\cdot\, \ln\left(\frac{ \mathit{\Pi} }{ 101 000 \, \mathrm{Pa} }\right)
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