The mass of 1 cubic meter of air at sea level is about 1.3kg. much does it weight in newtons? How much would a stack of 8000 such cubes weigh? If this total weight were all applied to an area of 1m^2, how much pressure would it produce on that surface? The answer should look familiar. (Although the atmosphere actually gets less dense with increasing altitude, the total amount of air is the same as these sea-level cubes were stacked some 8km high.)

Question

The mass of 1 cubic meter of air at sea level is about 1.3kg. much does it weight in newtons? How much would a stack of 8000 such cubes weigh? If this total weight were all applied to an area of 1m^2, how much pressure would it produce on that surface? The answer should look familiar. (Although the atmosphere actually gets less dense with increasing altitude, the total amount of air is the same as these sea-level cubes were stacked some 8km high.)

Answer 1

To calculate the weight of 1 cubic meter of air in Newtons, we need to multiply the mass by the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2).

Weight = mass * acceleration due to gravity

Weight = 1.3 kg * 9.8 m/s^2

Weight = 12.74 Newtons

Now, let's calculate the weight of a stack of 8000 such cubes:

Weight of 8000 cubes = Weight of 1 cube * Number of cubes

Weight of 8000 cubes = 12.74 N * 8000

Weight of 8000 cubes = 101,920 Newtons

To determine the pressure exerted on a surface if this total weight were applied to an area of 1m^2, we divide the weight by the area.

Pressure = Weight / Area

Pressure = 101,920 N / 1 m^2

Pressure = 101,920 Pascal (Pa)

This answer should look familiar because 101,920 Pascal is equivalent to 101.92 kilopascals (kPa), which is the approximate average atmospheric pressure at sea level.