Question

The barometer of a mountain hiker reads 930 mbars at the beginning of a hiking trip and 780 mbars at the end. Neglecting the effect of altitude on local gravitational acceleration, determine the verticl distance climed. Assume an average air density of 1.20kg/m^3 ...?

Answer 1

We could use the change of pressure to calculate for the height climbed by the mountain hiker. The change of pressure is given by

p = rho * g * h, where p is the change of pressure, rho is the air density, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height.

Using the conversion 1 mbar = 100 Pa,

(930 - 780)(100) = (1.20)(9.80)h
15000 = 1.20*9.80*h

h = 1.28 km