Question

Torricellis barometer used mercury. Pascal duplicated it using French wine of density 984kg/m3. The height of the wine column for normal atmospheric pressure is

Answer 1

Answer:

Density of mercury, ρ1 = 13.6 × 103 kg/m3

Height of the mercury column, h1 = 0.76 m

Density of French wine, ρ2 = 984 kg/m3

Height of the French wine column = h2

Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.8 m/s2

The pressure in both the columns is equal, i.e.,

Pressure in the mercury column = Pressure in the French wine column

ρ1h1g = ρ2h2g

h2 = ρ1h1 / ρ2

= 13.6 × 103 × 0.76 / 984 = 10.5 m

Hence, the height of the French wine column for normal atmospheric pressure is 10.5 m.