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Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as 101,325 Pa (1,013.25 hPa ), which is equivalent to 1,013.25 millibars , [ 1 ] 760 mm Hg , 29.9212 inches Hg , or 14.696 psi . [ 2 ]
The units of atmospheric pressure commonly used in meteorology were formerly the bar (100,000 Pa), which is close to the average air pressure on Earth, and the millibar. Since the introduction of SI units , meteorologists generally measure atmospheric pressure in hectopascals (hPa), equal to 100 pascals or 1 millibar.
Pressure as a function of the height above the sea level. There are two equations for computing pressure as a function of height. The first equation is applicable to the atmospheric layers in which the temperature is assumed to vary with altitude at a non null lapse rate of : = [,, ()] ′, The second equation is applicable to the atmospheric layers in which the temperature is assumed not to ...
Atmospheric air pressure where standard atmospheric pressure is defined as 1013.25 mbar, 101.325 kPa, 1.01325 bar, which is about 14.7 pounds per square inch. Despite the millibar not being an SI unit, meteorologists and weather reporters worldwide have long measured air pressure in millibar as the values are convenient.
Other units of pressure include: The bar (symbol: bar), defined as 100 kPa exactly. The atmosphere (symbol: atm), defined as 101.325 kPa exactly. These four pressure units are used in different settings. For example, the bar is used in meteorology to report atmospheric pressures. [7] The torr is used in high-vacuum physics and engineering. [8] [9]
Pressure may also be expressed in terms of standard atmospheric pressure; the unit atmosphere (atm) is equal to this pressure, and the torr is defined as 1 ⁄ 760 of this. Manometric units such as the centimetre of water , millimetre of mercury , and inch of mercury are used to express pressures in terms of the height of column of a particular ...
The standard atmosphere was originally defined as the pressure exerted by a 760 mm column of mercury at 0 °C (32 °F) and standard gravity (g n = 9.806 65 m/s 2). [2] It was used as a reference condition for physical and chemical properties, and the definition of the centigrade temperature scale set 100 °C as the boiling point of water at this pressure.
The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa), which is a very small unit relative to atmospheric pressure on Earth, so kilopascals (kPa) are more commonly used in this context. The ambient atmospheric pressure at sea level is not constant: it varies with the weather, but averages around 100 kPa.