Calculate the height of the mountain

Question

The pressure at the base of a mountain is 76cm of mercury and at the top it is 65cm of mercury. Calculate the height of the mountain given that the density of air is 1.25kgm^-3 and that of mercury is 13600kgm^-3

Answer 1

Hi Desmond,

 

change in pressure due to altitude = ρg (h1 -h2)

 

So 1.25 x g x (h1-h2) = 13600 x g x (76-65) cm.

Solve to get the height of the mountain as 1196.8 m.

Pradip