French physicist Blaise Pascal. He developed work on natural and applied sciences as well being a skilled mathematician and religious philosopher.
French physicist Blaise Pascal. He developed work on natural and applied sciences as well being a skilled mathematician and religious philosopher.

A barometer uses either a gas (like air) or a liquid (like water or mercury) to measure pressure of the atmosphere. Scientists use barometers a lot when they predict the weather, because it’s usually a very accurate way to predict quick changes in the weather.


Barometers have been around for centuries – the first one was in the 1640s!


At any given momen, you can tell how high you are above sea level by measure the pressure of the air. If you measure the pressure at sea level using a barometer, and then go up a thousand feet in an airplane, it will always indicate exactly 3.6 kPa lower than it did at sea level.


Scientists measure pressure in “kPa” which stands for “kilo-Pascals”. The standard pressure is 101.3 kPa at sea level, and 97.7 kPa 1,000 feet above sea level. In fact, every thousand feet you go up, pressure decreases by 4%. In airplanes, pilots use this fact to tell how high they are. For 2,000 feet, the standard pressure will be 94.2 kPa. However, if you’re in a low front, the sea level pressure reading might be 99.8 kPa, but 1000 feet up it will always read 3.6 kPa lower, or 96.2 kPa.


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4 Responses to “Barometer”

  1. How long does the pencil have to be

  2. jeffmalchow says:

    Thank you very much.

  3. Try using a larger balloon or a smaller jar. The balloon should come down the side of the container at least a few inches. It should also be fairly easy to stretch over the opening.

  4. jeffmalchow says:

    Our balloon blew off the jar after 1 day. Can you think of a reason this would happen?