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Home Q & A Board Science-Related Homework Help Physics
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captcooks69 captcooks69
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10 years ago
What is the total mass of Earth's atmosphere? You may use the fact that 1 bar is the pressure exerted by 10000 kilograms pushing down on a square meter in Earth's gravity. Remember that every square meter of Earth experiences this pressure from the atmosphere above it. Alternatively, you can start with the English units value for pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch and convert to kilograms for your final answer. Remember that the surface area of a sphere of radius r is 4πr2.
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#1
Staff Member
Educator
10 years ago
V for a sphere = 4(pi)R^2
Mass = density x volume

The problem already states that for every square meter of earth's surface, there is the weight of 10,000kg of atmosphere above it.

So, what is measured in units of "kg"?

[And you should know that "1 bar" is almost exactly "1 atm." Standard atmospheric pressure is actually more closely 1.013 bar]
Mastering in Nutritional Biology
Tralalalala Slight Smile
wrote...
#2
Educator
10 years ago
The atmosphere has a mass of about 5×1018 kg, three quarters of which is within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface.
wrote...
#3
10 years ago
1 bar = 101325 Pa = 101325 N/m^2
101325/9.81 kg/m^2

A(Earth) = 4 pi r^2
4 3.14159 (6371000 m)^2

Conclusion:

(101325/9.81 kg/m^2) (4 3.14159 (6371000 m)^2)
6371000 6371000 101325 4 3.14159 / 9.81 kg
5.268x10^18 kg
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