Barometer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Barometer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A barometer is an instrument used to measure

atmospheric pressure.

Contents
● 1 Liquid barometers
❍ 1.1 Water-based barometers

❍ 1.2 Mercury barometers

● 2 Aneroid barometers
● 3 Applications
● 4 Compensations
❍ 4.1 Temperature

❍ 4.2 Altitude

● 5 See also
● 6 External links and articles Schematic drawing of
a simple mercury
barometer with
vertical mercury
Liquid barometers column and reservoir
at base

Water-based barometers

This concept of "decreasing pressure means bad weather"

is the basis for a primitive weather prediction device
called a weather glass or thunder glass. It can also be
called a "storm glass" or a "Goethe thermometer" (the
writer Goethe popularized it in Germany).

It consists of a glass container with a wide spout. The

container is filled with water up to about the middle of
the spout; some air is left in the main body of the

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container. The design is such that when the air pressure

decreases, the pressure of the air pocket inside the device
will push some of the water up the spout. If the air
pressure is low enough, some of the water may even drip
out of the spout. These devices are essentially a water-
based version of the mercury barometer. The "Thunder
Glass" is extremely susceptible to the ambient
temperature which will alter the height of the water
column in the spout.

Mercury barometers

A standard mercury barometer has a glass column of about 30 inches (about 76 cm) in height, closed at
one end, with an open mercury-filled reservoir at the base. Mercury in the tube adjusts until the weight of
the mercury column balances the atmospheric force exerted on the reservoir. High atmospheric pressure
places more downward force on the reservoir, forcing mercury higher in the column. Low pressure allows
the mercury to drop to a lower level in the column by lowering the downward force placed on the reservoir.
Table of Pneumaticks, 1728 Cyclopaedia

The first barometer of this type was devised in 1643 by Evangelista Torricelli. Torricelli had set out to
create an instrument to measure the weight of air, or air pressure, and to study the nature of vacuums. He
used mercury, perhaps on a suggestion from Galileo Galilei, because it is significantly denser than water.
To create a vacuum with water takes a column over 30 feet long, while with mercury it takes less than four
feet.

Torricelli documented that the height of the mercury in a barometer changed slightly each day and
concluded that this was due to the changing pressure in the atmosphere. He wrote: "We live submerged at
the bottom of an ocean of elementary air, which is known by incontestable experiments to have weight".

The mercury barometer's design gives rise to the expression of atmospheric pressure in inches or millibars:
the pressure is quoted as the level of the mercury's height in the vertical column. 1 atmosphere is
equivalent to about 29.9 inches, or 760 millimeters, of mercury. The use of this unit is still popular in the

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United States, although it has been disused in favor of SI or metric units in other parts of the world.
Barometers of this type can usually measure atmospheric pressures in the range between 28 and 31 inches
of mercury.

Aneroid barometers

Another type of barometer, the aneroid barometer, uses a small, flexible metal box
called an aneroid cell. The box is tightly sealed after some of the air is removed, so
that small changes in external air pressure cause the cell to expand or contract.
This expansion and contraction drives a series of mechanical levers and other
devices which are displayed on the face of the aneroid barometer.
photo of an old
aneroid barometer
It is often necessary to tap this type of barometer before reading it. This loosens
the needle and causes the reading to jump in the direction of the most recent changes in pressure.

A simple aneroid barometer can be made using a latex membrane from a glove or balloon stretched over
the mouth of a bottle and held in place with a rubber band. Taping one end of a long thin stick or piece of
spaghetti to the center of the membrane provides an indicator needle, amplifying small motions of the
membrane at the other end of the stick.

Applications

A barometer is commonly used for weather prediction, as high air pressure in a region indicates fair
weather while low pressure indicates that storms are more likely. Simultaneous barometric readings from
across a network of weather stations allow maps of air pressure to be produced. Isobars drawn on such a
map links sites with the same pressure and give, in effect, a contour maps of areas of high and low
pressure. Localized high atmospheric pressure acts as a barrier to approaching weather systems, diverting
their course. Low atmospheric pressure, on the other hand, represents the path of least resistance for a
weather system, making it more likely that low pressure will be associated with increased storm activities.

Compensations

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Temperature

The density of mercury will change with temperature, so a reading must be adjusted for the temperature of
the instrument. For this purpose a mercury thermometer is usually mounted on the instrument. No such
compensation is required for an aneroid barometer.

Altitude

As the air pressure will be reduced at altitudes above sea level (and increased below sea level) the actual
reading of the instrument will be dependent upon its location. This pressure is then converted to an
equivalent sea-level pressure for purposes of reporting and for adjusting aircraft altimeters (as aircraft may
fly between regions of varying normalized atmospheric pressure owing to the presence of weather
systems). Aneroid barometers have a mechanical adjustment for altitude that allows the equivalent sea
level pressure to be read directly and without further adjustment if the instrument is not moved to a
different altitude.

See also
● Manometer
● Barometer question

Meteorological instrumentation and equipment

Anemometer | Barograph | Barometer | Ceiling balloon | Ceiling projector | Ceilometer
| Dark adaptor goggles | Disdrometer | Hygrometer | Ice Accretion Indicator | LIDAR |
Radiosonde | Rain gauge | Satellite | Snow gauge | SODAR | Sounding rocket |
Stevenson screen | Sunshine recorders | Thermograph | Thermometer | Weather balloon
| Weather radar | Weather satellite | Weather vane | Wind profiler

External links and articles

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Barometer

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Encyclopedia entries

● Barometer entry in the 1728 Cyclopaedia, with a detailed history and description of different
barometers

Patents

● U.S. Patent 2194624 : G. A. Titterington, Jr. : "Diaphragm pressure gauge having temperature
compensating means"
● U.S. Patent 2472735 : C. J. Ulrich : "Barometric instrument"
● U.S. Patent 2691305 : H. J. Frank : Barometric altimeter"
● U.S. Patent 3273398 : D. C. W. T. Sharp : "Aneroid barometer"
● U.S. Patent 3397578 : H. A. Klumb : "Motion amplifying mechanism for pressure responsive
instrument movement"
● U.S. Patent 3643510 : F. Lissau : "Fluid displacement pressure gauges"
● U.S. Patent 4106342 : O. S. Sormunen : "Pressure measuring instrument"
● U.S. Patent 4238958 : H. Dostmann : "Barometer"
● U.S. Patent 4327583 : T. Fijimoto : "Weather forecasting device"

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barometer"

Categories: Pressure gauges | Meteorological instrumentation and equipment

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