Question

If the density of water is 1.00 g/mL and the density of mercury is 13.6 g/mL, how high a column of water in meters can be supported by standard atmospheric pressure?

Answer 1

Answer:

The answer to this is

The column of water in meters that can be supported by standard atmospheric pressure is 10.336 meters

Explanation:

To solve this we first list out the variables thus

Density of the water = 1.00 g/mL =1000 kg/m³

density of mercury  = 13.6 g/mL = 13600 kg/m³

Standard atmospheric pressure = 760 mmHg or 101.325 kilopascals

Therefore from the equation for denstity we have

Density = mass/volume

Pressure = Force/Area  and for  a column of water, pressure = Density × gravity×height

Therefore where standard atmospheric pressure = 760 mmHg we have for Standard tmospheric pressure= 13600 kg/m³ × 9.81 m/s² × 0.76 m = 101396.16 Pa

This value of pressure should be supported by the column of water as follows

Pressure = 101396.16 Pa =  kg/m³×9.81 m/s² ×h

∴  $h = \frac{101396.16}{(1000)(9.81)}$ = 10.336 meters

The column of water in meters that can be supported by standard atmospheric pressure is 10.336 meters