Barometer
device · 1643 · Early modern era
Torricelli’s instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure.
Inventor: Evangelista Torricelli.
What it is made of
- Glass tube — has part. A tube sealed at the top.
- Mercury cistern — has part. An open reservoir.
- Measurement scale — has part. Millimetres of mercury.
Principles and materials it uses
- Mercury — is made of. A column of mercury.
- Pressure — uses. It measures pressure.
- Vacuum — uses. The Torricellian vacuum above the mercury.
Where it is used
- Weather station — is part of. A barometer.
History: what it evolved from and what it influenced
- Altimeter — evolved into. An altimeter is a barometer with an altitude scale.
Things built in a similar way
- Manometer — works like. Both measure pressure with a column of liquid: a barometer measures the air around us, a manometer the pressure inside a vessel.