Question

Explain how is the height of mercury column in tube of a simple barometer, a measure of the atmospheric pressure.

Answer 1

In given figure, at all points such as C on the surface of mercury in trough, only the atmospheric pressure acts. When the mercury level in the tube becomes stationary, the pressure inside tube at the point A, which is at the level of point C, must be same as that at the point C. The pressure at point A is due to the weight (or thrust) of the mercury column AB above it. Thus, the vertical height of the mercury column from the mercury surface in trough to the level in tube is a measure of the atmospheric pressure.

The vertical of the mercury column in it (i.e., AB = h) is called the barometric height.

Had the pressure at points A and C be not equal, the level of mercury in the tube would not have been stationary.