air pressure- universityof massachusetts amherst（空气压力——马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特学院）（6页）.docVIP

Air Pressure A. Introduction: Weather reports include measurements of air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, dew point, and barometric pressure. Meteorologists sometimes also include pollen counts, wind chill factors, heat indices, ultra-violet indices, and other measurements in weather reports. Weather maps in newspapers and on televised weather reports always indicate the location of high pressure and low pressure systems using the symbols H and L. They also include the location of warm fronts, cold fronts, stationary fronts, and occluded fronts. However, for most people, this is an information overload. For this reason, most televised weather reports provide some of the basic weather data and then repeat the forecast for the next several days at least three times. This activity will help you develop an understanding of how air pressure is measured and some interesting effects of differences in air pressure. B. A Water Barometer Demonstration Have your ever dipped a straw into water, placed your finger on top of the straw, and then lifted the straw out of the liquid? The liquid stays in the straw unless you lift your finger off of the top of the straw. Question 1: What force pulls down on the liquid when it is in the straw? Question 2: What evidence is there that the force of air pressure balances the force pulling down on the liquid? The following procedure demonstrates how tall of a column of water can be supported by air pressure. 1. A long plastic tube has been filled with water. Record the length of the column of water in centimeters. 2. One end of the tube has been closed with a clamp. 3. The other end of the tube will be placed in a bucket of water at ground level. 4. I will hold one end of the tube and the rest of the tube will be lowered out of the third story window at the end of the hallway. 5. The water level will fall a short distance at the upper end of the