Skip to main content

Barometer

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

A barometer measures atmospheric pressure from the height of a liquid column that atmospheric pressure alone supports in a closed, inverted tube.

Show

Mercury's high density lets a barometer stand about 760 millimeters tall at sea level, far shorter than a water barometer would need.

Watch for

A barometer measures the surrounding atmosphere's pressure, not the pressure of a gas trapped in any separate container.