Earths Structure And Layers Questions
Atmospheric pressure refers to the force exerted by the weight of the Earth's atmosphere on a given area. It is caused by the gravitational pull of the Earth on the air molecules in the atmosphere. The measurement of atmospheric pressure is typically done using a device called a barometer. A barometer consists of a long glass tube filled with mercury, which is then inverted into a dish of mercury. The pressure of the atmosphere pushes down on the mercury in the dish, causing it to rise up the tube. The height of the mercury column in the tube is then measured, and this measurement represents the atmospheric pressure. The most commonly used unit for measuring atmospheric pressure is the millibar (mb) or hectopascal (hPa).