Exponential decay with air pressure

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of exponential decay in relation to air pressure as a function of height above sea level, specifically focusing on calculations at high altitudes such as Mount McKinley and typical cruising altitudes of commercial jets.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to understand how to calculate air pressure at high altitudes without knowing the sea level pressure. They question the necessity of the sea level value for their calculations.
  • Some participants provide information about standard sea level pressure values, suggesting that these might be useful for the calculations.
  • There is a discussion about the choice of units for pressure, with one participant suggesting that atmospheres might be the most suitable for the problem.
  • Another participant emphasizes the importance of carefully reading the problem statement to understand the requirements for the calculations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants sharing relevant information and clarifying the problem's requirements. There is no explicit consensus yet, but some guidance regarding the use of standard pressure values has been provided.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating the constraints of not having a specific sea level pressure value provided in the problem statement, which is central to solving the questions posed.

Jacobpm64
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Air pressure, P, decreases exponentially with the height, h, in meters above sea level:

P = P0e-0.00012h

where P0 is the air pressure at sea level.

(a) At the top of Mount McKinley, height 6198 meters (about 20,330 feet), what is the air pressure, as a percent of the pressure at sea level?

I think I need to know the air pressure at sea level to answer this question but I'm not given it... Does anyone know it if i need it, and if I don't.. how do i solve the problem without it?

(b) The maximum cruising altitude of an ordinary commercial jet is around 12,000 meters (about 39,000 feet). At that height, what is the air pressure, as a percent of the sea level value?

Same question for this one.
 
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The air pressure at sea-level is taken as the reference 1 atm of pressure, or 14.696 psia (absolute pressure), or 0.101325 MPa, or 101.325 kPa, 760 mm Hg, or 760 torr (assuming Temp = 25°C/298 K)

This might be useful for future reference -
http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/Physics/UNITS.html - find pressure near bottom of page.
 
so I guess it doesn't matter which units I use?... I suppose atmospheres would be the best to work with.
 
This is why I encourage people to actually Read the Problem before trying to solve it! Then you might notice that the problem asks "what is the air pressure, as a percent of the pressure at sea level?"
 

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