What is the total mass of Earth’s atmosphere? You may use the fact that 1 bar (a

Question

What is the total mass of Earth’s atmosphere? You may use the fact that 1 bar (atmospheric pressure at sea level) is the pressure exerted by 10,000 kilograms pushing down on a square meter in Earth’s gravity. Alternatively, you may start with the English unit value for pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch and convert (to kilograms and meters) as appropriate.   Remember that every square meter of Earth experiences this pressure from the atmosphere above it, and that
the surface area of a sphere is 4r.

Explanation / Answer

Total atmospheric mass is 5.1480×1018 kg (1.135×1019 lb),
about 2.5% less than would be inferred from the average sea level pressure and Earth's area of 51007.2 megahectares.
This portion is taken by mountain terrains.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse W
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.