Lesson test: The weight of the air

1.[2p]
Water stands at 10.33 m in a suction pipe and mercury is 13.6 times as dense. How high a mercury column will the same air pressure support, in metres?

CorrectNot quite: 0.76

2.[3p]
Why does the mercury tube on its own fail to settle the question?

A resistance to the void with a fixed strength per unit area predicts the same inverse relation with density

Correct

The tube's reading changes with the weather

The answer is: A resistance to the void with a fixed strength per unit area predicts the same inverse relation with density

Mercury was too expensive for anyone to repeat the experiment

The answer is: A resistance to the void with a fixed strength per unit area predicts the same inverse relation with density

The space at the top of the tube is not in fact empty

The answer is: A resistance to the void with a fixed strength per unit area predicts the same inverse relation with density

3.[3p]
What made the Puy de Dôme trial able to decide between the accounts?

Only the weight-of-air account predicts that the column shortens as you climb

Correct

It used a larger tube than earlier trials

The answer is: Only the weight-of-air account predicts that the column shortens as you climb

It was witnessed by clerics

The answer is: Only the weight-of-air account predicts that the column shortens as you climb

It measured the temperature as well as the height

The answer is: Only the weight-of-air account predicts that the column shortens as you climb

4.[3p]
What was the purpose of the second barometer left at the foot of the mountain all day?

It was a control, separating a change with altitude from a change in the weather

Correct

It was a spare in case the first broke

The answer is: It was a control, separating a change with altitude from a change in the weather

It measured the temperature at the base

The answer is: It was a control, separating a change with altitude from a change in the weather

It let the observers synchronise their watches

The answer is: It was a control, separating a change with altitude from a change in the weather

5.[3p]
The column read 711.7 mm at the base and 627.1 mm at the summit. Taking the scale height of the atmosphere as 8400 m, what altitude difference does that imply, in metres?

CorrectNot quite: 1063

6.[3p]
Two evacuated hemispheres are 0.51 m across. What force, in kilonewtons, is needed to pull them apart against an atmospheric pressure of 101325 Pa?

CorrectNot quite: 20.5

7.[2p]
Eight horses pulling each way separate the Magdeburg hemispheres with twice the force of eight horses pulling against a fixed wall.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

8.[3p]
In Boyle's table a volume of 48 sits at a pressure of 29.13 inches. Taking the product as constant, what pressure goes with a volume of 16?

CorrectNot quite: 87.4

9.[3p]
Which results inside Boyle's evacuated receiver closed off an escape route for the old account?

Select all that apply

The mercury column falls when the air around the tube is pumped out

Correct

A ringing bell falls silent

Correct

A candle goes out and a bird faints

Correct

The receiver itself collapses inwards

The answer is: The mercury column falls when the air around the tube is pumped out, A ringing bell falls silent, A candle goes out and a bird faints

1.[2p] Water stands at 10.33 m in a suction pipe and mercury is 13.6 times as dense. How high a mercury column will the same air pressure support, in metres?

2.[3p] Why does the mercury tube on its own fail to settle the question?

3.[3p] What made the Puy de Dôme trial able to decide between the accounts?

4.[3p] What was the purpose of the second barometer left at the foot of the mountain all day?

5.[3p] The column read 711.7 mm at the base and 627.1 mm at the summit. Taking the scale height of the atmosphere as 8400 m, what altitude difference does that imply, in metres?

6.[3p] Two evacuated hemispheres are 0.51 m across. What force, in kilonewtons, is needed to pull them apart against an atmospheric pressure of 101325 Pa?

7.[2p] Eight horses pulling each way separate the Magdeburg hemispheres with twice the force of eight horses pulling against a fixed wall.

8.[3p] In Boyle's table a volume of 48 sits at a pressure of 29.13 inches. Taking the product as constant, what pressure goes with a volume of 16?

9.[3p] Which results inside Boyle's evacuated receiver closed off an escape route for the old account?

1.[2p]
Water stands at 10.33 m in a suction pipe and mercury is 13.6 times as dense. How high a mercury column will the same air pressure support, in metres?

2.[3p]
Why does the mercury tube on its own fail to settle the question?

3.[3p]
What made the Puy de Dôme trial able to decide between the accounts?

4.[3p]
What was the purpose of the second barometer left at the foot of the mountain all day?

5.[3p]
The column read 711.7 mm at the base and 627.1 mm at the summit. Taking the scale height of the atmosphere as 8400 m, what altitude difference does that imply, in metres?

6.[3p]
Two evacuated hemispheres are 0.51 m across. What force, in kilonewtons, is needed to pull them apart against an atmospheric pressure of 101325 Pa?

7.[2p]
Eight horses pulling each way separate the Magdeburg hemispheres with twice the force of eight horses pulling against a fixed wall.

8.[3p]
In Boyle's table a volume of 48 sits at a pressure of 29.13 inches. Taking the product as constant, what pressure goes with a volume of 16?

9.[3p]
Which results inside Boyle's evacuated receiver closed off an escape route for the old account?