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What happens to the air pressure as you go higher in the atmosphere?

The air pressure gets lower because there is less air above you.
The air pressure gets lower because there is more air above you.
The air pressure remains the same.

1 Answer

10 votes

Answer:

(a) The air pressure gets lower because there is less air above you

Step-by-step explanation:

You want to know what happens to the air pressure as you go higher in the atmosphere.

Air pressure

The air pressure at a given point is effectively the weight of the column of air above that point. As you go higher in the atmosphere, more air is below you, and less air is above you. This causes the air pressure to decrease with altitude.

As you go higher, ...

The air pressure gets lower because there is less air above you

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Additional comment

When you reach outer space, there is no air above you, and the air pressure is zero.

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