Phil of Science is really crushing it in the this edition of Hub Lab. It all seems hard to imagine, but did you know that there are tonnes of atmospheric pressure pushing down on us at any time?
As always, there is an experiment to help explain it all and for us to see the wonders of science in action!
In this Hub Lab we will...
1. Introduce the idea of atmospheric pressure.
2. Think about the amount of air above us and demonstrate it.
Under Pressure!
What is atmospheric pressure – well it's a force in an area pushing down on us or a certain point by the weight of air in Earth's atmosphere above. The earth has a layer of air all around it. However, this layer is not distributed evenly around the globe.
So, that means that's sometimes there’s more of it above you than others However, on average there’s about ten tonnes of weight per square metre on top of us (at sea level). So by just standing in one spot you’ve got the weight of a small car on top of you!
The reason we don’t feel it is that the fluid and air in our bodies (in our lungs and stomachs, for example) is pushing back out with the same pressure outwards, so we’re all good! Phew!
Tune in at 3.20pm every weekday on RTÉ2 and you can catch up with thanks to the RTÉ Player
