The Weight of the Air

Air:
We have seen that the pressure of the atmosphere at any point is due to the weight of the air column which stretches from that point far up into the sky above. This weight varies slightly from time to time and from place to place, but it is equal to about 15 pounds to the square inch as shown by actual measurement. It comes to us as a surprise sometimes that air actually has weight; for example, a mass of 12 cubic feet of air at average pressure weighs 1 pound, and the air in a large assembly hall weighs more than 1 ton.

We are practically never conscious of this really enormous pressure of the atmosphere, which is exerted over every inch of our bodies, because the pressure is exerted equally over the outside and the inside of our bodies; the cells and tissues of our bodies containing gases under atmospheric pressure. If, however, the finger is placed over the open end of a tube and the air is sucked out of the tube by the mouth, the flesh of the finger bulges into the tube because the pressure within the finger is no longer equalized by the usual atmospheric pressure.

Aëronauts have never ascended much higher than 7 miles; at that height the barometer stands at 7 inches instead of at 30 inches, and the internal pressure in cells and tissues is not balanced by an equal external pressure. The unequalized internal pressure forces the blood to the surface of the body and causes rupture of blood vessels and other physical difficulties.

FIG. - The flesh bulges out.