Toricelli’s barometer used mercury. Pascal duplicated it using French wine of density 984 kg m–3. Determine the height of the wine column for normal atmospheric pressure
Density of mercury, ρ1=13.6×103kg/m3 Height of the mercury column, h1=0.76m Density of French wine, ρ2=984kg/m3 Height of the French wine column =h2 Acceleration due to gravity, g=9.8m/s2 The pressure in both the columns is equal, i.e., Pressure in the mercury column = Pressure in the French wine column ρ1h1g=ρ2h2g h2=ρ1h1/ρ2 =13.6×103×0.76/984=10.5 m Hence, the height of the French wine column for normal atmospheric pressure is 10.5 m.
