Mondo Knows Facts
Torricelli invented the mercury barometer to measure air pressure
Weight from atmospheric air supports a column of liquid mercury inside sealed glass
Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli inverted a glass tube filled with mercury into a basin in 1643, creating the world's first barometer. Weight from the surrounding atmosphere pushes down on open fluid, supporting a column of mercury roughly 760 millimetres high at sea level.
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Tags: weather, barometer, physics
Torricelli invented the mercury barometer to measure air pressure: the short answers
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- Weight from atmospheric air supports a column of liquid mercury inside sealed glass. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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