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Air density, like air pressure, decreases with increasing altitude. It also changes with variations in atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity . At 101.325 kPa (abs) and 20 °C (68 °F), air has a density of approximately 1.204 kg/m 3 (0.0752 lb/cu ft), according to the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA).
The density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m 3 (1.2 g/L, 0.0012 g/cm 3). Density is not measured directly but is calculated from measurements of temperature, pressure and humidity using the equation of state for air (a form of the ideal gas law). Atmospheric density decreases as the altitude increases.
The units of air pressure are based upon the standard atmosphere (atm), which is 101,325 Pa (equivalent to 760 Torr or 14.696 psi). The height at which the atmospheric pressure declines by a factor of e (an irrational number equal to 2.71828) is called the scale height (H).
In this state, the distinction between liquid and gas disappears. A supercritical fluid has the physical properties of a gas, but its high density confers solvent properties in some cases, which leads to useful applications. For example, supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract caffeine in the manufacture of decaffeinated coffee. [3]
An air mass originating over northern Siberia in winter may be indicated as "cA". [3] The stability of an air mass may be shown using a third letter, either "k" (air mass colder than the surface below it) or "w" (air mass warmer than the surface below it). [3] An example of this might be a polar air mass blowing over the Gulf Stream, denoted as ...
Air is both hot and wet (for air is like vapor, ἀτμὶς). Water is both cold and wet. Earth is both cold and dry. A classic diagram has one square inscribed in the other, with the corners of one being the classical elements, and the corners of the other being the properties. The opposite corner is the opposite of these properties, "hot ...
at each geopotential altitude, where g is the standard acceleration of gravity, and R specific is the specific gas constant for dry air (287.0528J⋅kg −1 ⋅K −1). The solution is given by the barometric formula. Air density must be calculated in order to solve for the pressure, and is used in calculating dynamic pressure for moving vehicles.
Atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat-to-work transformations (and their reverse) that take place in the Earth's atmosphere and manifest as weather or climate. . Atmospheric thermodynamics use the laws of classical thermodynamics, to describe and explain such phenomena as the properties of moist air, the formation of clouds, atmospheric convection, boundary layer meteorology, and ...