Meteorologists monitor changes in atmospheric pressure to help predict future weather patterns. A drop in pressure is often a sign of an approaching storm system. Suppose the height of the column of mercury in a barometer is 760. mm at 15°C. What is the atmospheric pressure in pascals? At 15°C, the density of mercury is 13.595 g · cm^–3 (corresponding to 13 595 kg· s^–3) and the standard acceleration of free fall at the surface of the Earth is 9.806 65 m · s^–2.

ANTICIPATE As noted earlier, atmospheric pressure is close to 100 kPa, so you should expect a value close to that figure.

PLAN Substitute the data into Eq. 2 and recognize that 1 kg · m^–1 · s^–2 = 1 Pa.

Transcribed Image Text:

P = dhg (2)