Question

The Mercury barometer was invented by:
(A). Celsius.
(B). Fahrenheit.
(C). Torricelli
(D). Bernoulli.

Answer 1

Hint: Mercury is the metal that remains in liquid state at room temperature and will have a higher density than many liquids. A barometer is an instrument to measure the atmospheric pressure. It is usually measured in units of atmosphere (atm) which is equal to the average air pressure above sea level at a temperature of \[15{}^\circ \text{C}\]. As altitude from sea level increases, the pressure decreases as the density of air is lesser in high altitudes.

Complete step by step answer:
The first barometric experiment was conducted using water. An open tank of water was taken and a very long transparent tube which was closed at the top and open at the bottom was placed like in the diagram. Since water was very light, to measure the pressure the rise in the tube was more than 35 feet. The Italian physicist, Evangelista Torricelli was the person who conducted this experiment and analyzing mercury to be denser, implemented this experiment using mercury liquid. As pressure increases, it will force the mercury to rise in the tube. Values were marked on the tube which gave the corresponding atmosphere units. This mercury barometer was invented in 1643 and was the first barometer to be used of all times. Hence the correct option is C.

Additional information:
The density of mercury is \[13.6\dfrac{g}{mL}\] while that of water is \[1\dfrac{g}{mL}\]. The complete air volume that surrounds the Earth's crust is termed as the atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure is caused by this pack of air column on the particles beneath due to the gravitational pull of the Earth.

Note: French scientist Lucien Vidi invented the aneroid barometer.
Anders Celsius proposed the centigrade temperature scale.
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit is known for his work in thermometry, which includes the invention of alcohol thermometer and mercury-in-glass thermometer.
The mathematician Daniel Bernoulli has applied mathematics to fluid mechanics and has a principle invented in his name.
The term “baro” means weight or pressure in Greek.