Equation

When atmospheric pressure is measured by a barometer, the pressure is also referred to as the
"barometric pressure". Assume a barometer with a cross-sectional area A, a height h, filled with
mercury from the bottom at Point B to the top at Point C. The pressure at the bottom of the
barometer, Point B, is equal to the atmospheric pressure. The pressure at the very top, Point C, can
be taken as zero because there is only mercury vapour above this point and its pressure is very low
relative to the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, one can find the atmospheric pressure using the
barometer and this equation:[38][clarification needed]
Patm = ρgh
where ρ is the density of mercury, g is the gravitational acceleration, and h is the height of the
mercury column above the free surface area. The physical dimensions (length of tube and
cross-sectional area of the tube) of the barometer itself have no effect on the height of the fluid
column in the tube.
In thermodynamic calculations, a commonly used pressure unit is the "standard atmosphere".
This is the pressure resulting from a column of mercury of 760 mm in height at 0 °C. For the
density of mercury, use ρHg = 13,595 kg/m3 and for gravitational acceleration use g = 9.807 m/s2.
If water were used (instead of mercury) to meet the standard atmospheric pressure, a water
column of roughly 10.3 m (33.8 ft) would be needed.
Standard atmospheric pressure as a function of elevation:
Note: 1 torr = 133.3 Pa = 0.03937 inHg

Patm / kPa Altitude Patm / inHg Altitude

Sea Level
101.325 29.92 Sea Level (0 ft)
(0m)

97.71 305 m 28.86 1,000 ft

94.21 610 m 27.82 2,000 ft

89.88 1,000 m 26.55 3,281 ft

84.31 1,524 m 24.90 5,000 ft

79.50 2,000 m 23.48 6,562 ft

69.68 3,048 m 20.58 10,000 ft

54.05 5,000 m 15.96 16,404 ft

46.56 6,096 m 13.75 20,000 ft

37.65 7,620 m 11.12 25,000 ft

32.77 8,848 m* 9.68 29,029 ft*

26.44 10,000 m 7.81 32,808 ft

11.65 15,240 m 3.44 50,000 ft

5.53 20,000 m 1.63 65,617 ft

* Elevation of Mount Everest, the highest point on earth