Air Pressure at Altitude Calculator
Pressure is applied differently at different altitudes. Use this tool to calculate the air pressure at a certain altitude.
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Create Date: October 22, 2024
Last Modified Date: January 23, 2025
If you are looking to calculate the air pressure at a specific altitude we can help you with that. The formula for solving that is:
After hitting calculate you will get your results almost instantly. What will be displayed is the amount of pressure at the specific altitude that you specified.
For your convenience, we have included a simple dropdown menu for you to change the unit of pressure measurement of your answer which will also automatically convert your answer to that new value.
If you are trying to calculate the air pressure of a specific altitude then you are in the right place. It can easily be done with a tool like this. The steps include:
Let's say you are interested in finding out the air pressure at 20,000 feet in the sky. You know that the current sea level pressure in your area is 1,020 hPa so you enter that into the first field. We then can enter 20,000 into the altitude field and leave the feet unit of measurement as that. Currently, the temperature is 50 Fahrenheit so we enter that into the final field.
With all of our info entered into the calculator, we can hit the calculate button. We find that the altitude at 20,000 feet is about 461.9 hPa.
Theories around the air go back thousands of years. Aristotle in 384 to 322 BC famously argued that air had no measurable mass which sparked scientific discussions for centuries. In the first century, Hero of Alexandria demonstrated that air occupies space with the invention of his aeolipile, hinting at physical properties of air like pressure. This did not lead to the discovery of air pressure but was a step towards it.
It wasn't until the year 1643 where a student of Galileo named Evangelista Torricelli conducted some groundbreaking experiments for measuring air pressure. He would invent the barometer, a tool that uses mercury to demonstrate that air exerts pressure. A man named Blaise Pascal would expand on his findings by taking a barometer up a mountain to discover that the pressure would decrease as his altitude increased, connecting higher altitudes with lower air pressure.
This would then set the stage for more advancements in reading air pressure, how air pressure plays role in the weather other avenues, and overall increase the understanding of the Earth for mankind. Today, this is something that is easily available and readable through the internet or other means.
Yes, as altitude increases, air pressure decreases. At higher altitudes, there are fewer air molecules per unit of volume, leading to lower pressure.
At sea level, the average air pressure is approximately 1013.25 hPa (hectopascals), which is also equivalent to 1 atmosphere (atm) or 14.7 psi.
Temperature has a significant impact on air pressure. Warm air is less dense than cold air, meaning that higher temperatures can lead to lower air pressure at a given altitude.
Understanding air pressure at altitudes can be difficult if some of the terms and keywords used are not ones you understand. Here we shed some more light on some of these terms.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Aeolipile | An early engine that was invented which ran as a bladeless radial steam turbine that would spin when the central water container was heated. |
| Barometer | A tool that was invented to measure pressure which uses mercury to determine if there is any pressure being exerted at a given time. |
There are many interesting things that can be shared about air pressure. Here are some of our favorites.
Air pressure on Mount Everest (29,032 feet or 8,849 meters) is only about 33% of sea level pressure. This is why climbers need supplemental oxygen to survive.
Mars has such low air pressure that its atmosphere is equivalent to standing at an altitude of 22 miles (35 km) on Earth—far above what humans can tolerate.
At high altitudes, lower air pressure causes water to boil at lower temperatures, making it harder to bake cakes or cook food properly.
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