14.

4: Measuring Pressure
 Learning Objectives
Define gauge pressure and absolute pressure
Explain various methods for measuring pressure
Understand the working of open-tube barometers
Describe in detail how manometers and barometers operate

In the preceding section, we derived a formula for calculating the variation in pressure for a fluid in hydrostatic equilibrium. As it
turns out, this is a very useful calculation. Measurements of pressure are important in daily life as well as in science and
engineering applications. In this section, we discuss different ways that pressure can be reported and measured.

Gauge Pressure vs. Absolute Pressure

Suppose the pressure gauge on a full scuba tank reads 3000 psi, which is approximately 207 atmospheres. When the valve is
opened, air begins to escape because the pressure inside the tank is greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the tank. Air
continues to escape from the tank until the pressure inside the tank equals the pressure of the atmosphere outside the tank. At this
point, the pressure gauge on the tank reads zero, even though the pressure inside the tank is actually 1 atmosphere—the same as the
air pressure outside the tank.
Most pressure gauges, like the one on the scuba tank, are calibrated to read zero at atmospheric pressure. Pressure readings from
such gauges are called gauge pressure, which is the pressure relative to the atmospheric pressure. When the pressure inside the
tank is greater than atmospheric pressure, the gauge reports a positive value. Some gauges are designed to measure negative
pressure. For example, many physics experiments must take place in a vacuum chamber, a rigid chamber from which some of the
air is pumped out. The pressure inside the vacuum chamber is less than atmospheric pressure, so the pressure gauge on the chamber
reads a negative value. Unlike gauge pressure, absolute pressure accounts for atmospheric pressure, which in effect adds to the
pressure in any fluid not enclosed in a rigid container.

 Definition Absolute Pressure

The absolute pressure, or total pressure, is the sum of gauge pressure and atmospheric pressure:

pabs = pg + patm (14.4.1)

where pabsis absolute pressure, pg is gauge pressure, and patm is atmospheric pressure.

For example, if a tire gauge reads 34 psi, then the absolute pressure is 34 psi plus 14.7 psi (patm in psi), or 48.7 psi (equivalent to
336 kPa).
In most cases, the absolute pressure in fluids cannot be negative. Fluids push rather than pull, so the smallest absolute pressure in a
fluid is zero (a negative absolute pressure is a pull). Thus, the smallest possible gauge pressure is pg = −patm (which makes pabs
zero). There is no theoretical limit to how large a gauge pressure can be.

Measuring Pressure
A host of devices are used for measuring pressure, ranging from tire gauges to blood pressure monitors. Many other types of
pressure gauges are commonly used to test the pressure of fluids, such as mechanical pressure gauges. We will explore some of
these in this section.
Any property that changes with pressure in a known way can be used to construct a pressure gauge. Some of the most common
types include strain gauges, which use the change in the shape of a material with pressure; capacitance pressure gauges, which use
the change in electric capacitance due to shape change with pressure; piezoelectric pressure gauges, which generate a voltage
difference across a piezoelectric material under a pressure difference between the two sides; and ion gauges, which measure
pressure by ionizing molecules in highly evacuated chambers. Different pressure gauges are useful in different pressure ranges and
under different physical situations. Some examples are shown in Figure 14.4.1.

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 Figure 14.4.1 : (a) Gauges are used to measure and monitor pressure in gas cylinders. Compressed gases are used in many industrial
as well as medical applications. (b) Tire pressure gauges come in many different models, but all are meant for the same purpose: to
measure the internal pressure of the tire. This enables the driver to keep the tires inflated at optimal pressure for load weight and
driving conditions. (c) An ionization gauge is a high-sensitivity device used to monitor the pressure of gases in an enclosed system.
Neutral gas molecules are ionized by the release of electrons, and the current is translated into a pressure reading. Ionization gauges
are commonly used in industrial applications that rely on vacuum systems.

Manometers
One of the most important classes of pressure gauges applies the property that pressure due to the weight of a fluid of constant
density is given by p = hρg. The U-shaped tube shown in Figure 14.4.2 is an example of a manometer; in part (a), both sides of
the tube are open to the atmosphere, allowing atmospheric pressure to push down on each side equally so that its effects cancel.
A manometer with only one side open to the atmosphere is an ideal device for measuring gauge pressures. The gauge pressure is pg
= hρg and is found by measuring h. For example, suppose one side of the U-tube is connected to some source of pressure pabs, such
as the balloon in part (b) of the figure or the vacuum-packed peanut jar shown in part (c). Pressure is transmitted undiminished to
the manometer, and the fluid levels are no longer equal. In part (b), pabs is greater than atmospheric pressure, whereas in part (c),
pabs is less than atmospheric pressure. In both cases, pabs differs from atmospheric pressure by an amount hρg, where ρ is the
density of the fluid in the manometer. In part (b), pabs can support a column of fluid of height h, so it must exert a pressure hρg
greater than atmospheric pressure (the gauge pressure pg is positive). In part (c), atmospheric pressure can support a column of
fluid of height h, so pabsis less than atmospheric pressure by an amount hρg (the gauge pressure pg is negative).

Figure 14.4.2 : An open-tube manometer has one side open to the atmosphere. (a) Fluid depth must be the same on both sides, or
the pressure each side exerts at the bottom will be unequal and liquid will flow from the deeper side. (b) A positive gauge pressure
pg = hρ g transmitted to one side of the manometer can support a column of fluid of height h. (c) Similarly, atmospheric pressure is
greater than a negative gauge pressure pg by an amount hρ g. The jar’s rigidity prevents atmospheric pressure from being
transmitted to the peanuts.

Barometers
Manometers typically use a U-shaped tube of a fluid (often mercury) to measure pressure. A barometer (Figure 14.4.3) is a device
that typically uses a single column of mercury to measure atmospheric pressure. The barometer, invented by the Italian
mathematician and physicist Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647) in 1643, is constructed from a glass tube closed at one end and
filled with mercury. The tube is then inverted and placed in a pool of mercury. This device measures atmospheric pressure, rather
than gauge pressure, because there is a nearly pure vacuum above the mercury in the tube. The height of the mercury is such that h
ρg = patm. When atmospheric pressure varies, the mercury rises or falls.

Weather forecasters closely monitor changes in atmospheric pressure (often reported as barometric pressure), as rising mercury
typically signals improving weather and falling mercury indicates deteriorating weather. The barometer can also be used as an
altimeter, since average atmospheric pressure varies with altitude. Mercury barometers and manometers are so common that units
of mm Hg are often quoted for atmospheric pressure and blood pressures.

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 Figure 14.4.3 : A mercury barometer measures atmospheric pressure. The pressure due to the mercury’s weight, hρ g, equals
atmospheric pressure. The atmosphere is able to force mercury in the tube to a height h because the pressure above the mercury is
zero.

 Example 14.4.1: Fluid Heights in an Open U-Tube

A U-tube with both ends open is filled with a liquid of density ρ to a height h on both sides (Figure 14.4.1). A liquid of
1

density ρ < ρ is poured into one side and Liquid 2 settles on top of Liquid 1. The heights on the two sides are different. The
2 1

height to the top of Liquid 2 from the interface is h2 and the height to the top of Liquid 1 from the level of the interface is h1.
Derive a formula for the height difference.

Figure 14.4.4 : Two liquids of different densities are shown in a U-tube.

Strategy
The pressure at points at the same height on the two sides of a U-tube must be the same as long as the two points are in the
same liquid. Therefore, we consider two points at the same level in the two arms of the tube: One point is the interface on the
side of the Liquid 2 and the other is a point in the arm with Liquid 1 that is at the same level as the interface in the other arm.
The pressure at each point is due to atmospheric pressure plus the weight of the liquid above it.
Pressure on the side with Liquid 1 = p0 + ρ gh1 1

Pressure on the side with Liquid 2 = p0 + ρ gh2 2

Solution
Since the two points are in Liquid 1 and are at the same height, the pressure at the two points must be the same. Therefore, we
have

p0 + ρ1 gh1 = p0 + ρ2 gh2 .

Hence,

ρ1 h1 = ρ2 h2 .

This means that the difference in heights on the two sides of the U-tube is
p1
h2 − h1 = (1 − ) h2 .
p2

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 The result makes sense if we set ρ2 = ρ1 , which gives h2 = h1. If the two sides have the same density, they have the same
height.

 Exercise 14.4.1

Mercury is a hazardous substance. Why do you suppose mercury is typically used in barometers instead of a safer fluid such as
water?

Units of pressure
As stated earlier, the SI unit for pressure is the pascal (Pa), where
2
1 P a = 1 N /m . (14.4.2)

In addition to the pascal, many other units for pressure are in common use (Table 14.4.1). In meteorology, atmospheric pressure is
often described in the unit of millibars (mb), where
5
1000 mb = 1 × 10 P a. (14.4.3)

The millibar is a convenient unit for meteorologists because the average atmospheric pressure at sea level on Earth is 1.013 x 105
Pa = 1013 mb = 1 atm. Using the equations derived when considering pressure at a depth in a fluid, pressure can also be measured
as millimeters or inches of mercury. The pressure at the bottom of a 760-mm column of mercury at 0 °C in a container where the
top part is evacuated is equal to the atmospheric pressure. Thus, 760 mm Hg is also used in place of 1 atmosphere of pressure. In
vacuum physics labs, scientists often use another unit called the torr, named after Torricelli, who, as we have just seen, invented the
mercury manometer for measuring pressure. One torr is equal to a pressure of 1 mm Hg.
Table 14.4.1 : Summary of the Units of Pressure
Unit Definition

SI unit: the Pascal 1 P a = 1 N /m

2
(14.4.4)

English unit: pounds per square inch ( lb/in.2 or psi) 1 psi = 7.015 × 10
3
Pa (14.4.5)

1 atm = 760 mm Hg
5
= 1.013 × 10 Pa

Other units of pressure = 14.7 psi

= 29.9 inches of Hg

= 1013 mb

5
1 bar = 10 Pa (14.4.6)

1 torr = 1 mm Hg = 122.39 P a (14.4.7)

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