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be specific and answer it right

2007-05-01 12:27:46 · 6 answers · asked by rohanshah1992 3 in Science & Mathematics Earth Sciences & Geology

6 answers

Well, aren't we pleasant tonight. "Be specific and answer it right". If you're asking to test us, then that was rude. If you're asking because you really don't know this simple basic fact of life on a planet with an atmosphere, then it was still rude.

I will assume you know what air pressure is.
Gravity holds the air molecules close to the ground. As we move away from the surface of the earth, the gravitational field decreases (since you were rude you figure out by how much), so the air molecules aren't held as tightly as they are at the surface. That means the molecules are free to move around, and some move up and even further from the surface. Some move fast enough that they can actually escape earth's gravity all together. So the molecules spread out and the air pressure decreases.
In addition, there is just more space to fill up the further you get above the surface (the volume of the sphere at 1000 miles above the surface is more than the volume of the sphere at only 10 feet above the surface - you do know that. right?) So even if there were the same total number of molecules, there is more space for them to move around in, and that also decreases air pressure.

2007-05-01 13:13:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Imagine a pipe, a hundred miles high, but open at the bottom. At any point in the pipe, the pressure there arises from the weight of the air in the pipe above that point. The higher you go, the more air below you and the less above you. The exact formula for pressure versus altitude takes into account temperature as well, so it is a mildly difficult problem in integral calculus to get it. A rough approximation, good near sea level, is that you lose an inch of mercury per thousand feet increase in elevation.

2007-05-01 12:43:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Atmospheric pressure is caused by the weight of the air column above. The higher your altitude, the less air above you, so the less weight from the air above and therefore less pressure at that point.

2007-05-01 12:32:54 · answer #3 · answered by Now and Then Comes a Thought 6 · 0 0

Air pressure decreases as you go higher because you are farther away form the earth's surface. The farther away the air molecules are from the earth the less gravationa pull it has on the molecules. The less gravational pull they have towards the earth causes the air molecules to spread out.

2007-05-01 14:17:05 · answer #4 · answered by confused 4 · 0 0

For the same reason that water pressure decreases as you go from a greater to lesser depth.

There is less weight of the substance above you to create pressure.

2007-05-01 13:48:40 · answer #5 · answered by gatorbait 7 · 0 0

Less air, less volume, less pressure. That's as specific as it
needs to be. Don't make things more complex then they need
to be. Simplify.

2007-05-01 12:36:38 · answer #6 · answered by producer_vortex 6 · 0 0

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