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A meteorologist is monitoring the atmospheric pressure at various cities whose height above sea level varies. The meteorologist determines that the atmospheric pressure decreases by 12% for each additional kilometer the city is above sea level. It has been determined that the atmospheric pressure at sea level is 103 kPa (kilopascals).

Determine the atmospheric pressure in the following cities.

A city located 4.6 km above sea level

User FrodoB
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1 Answer

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If the pressure decreases 12% per kilometer of elevation,
then this would be the equation:

Pressure = (pressure at sea level) · (0.88)^power of (elevation in km) .

If the sea level pressure is 103 kPa and
the city is 4.6 km above sea level, then

Pressure = (103 kPa) · (0.88)⁴.⁶ (the exponent is " 4.6 ")

= (103 kPa) · (0.5554)

= 57 kPa (rounded)
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4.6 km is a very high elevation for people to live at. One reason is just
what we found up above ... the low air pressure makes it tough to get
enough oxygen into your lungs to be able to DO anything. You would
just have to lay around all day trying to breathe !

I did some searching online looking for major cities at 4.6 km elevation,
and I didn't find any.

4.6 km is almost 3 times as high above sea level as Denver, Colorado is.
User Sean Keating
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