Change in atmospheric pressure with height is particularly interesting. The decrease in atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude is due to the decreasing gravitational force per unit area as we move away from the surface of the earth.
Assuming the air temperature is constant at a given altitude and that the ideal gas law of thermodynamics describes the atmosphere to a good approximation, one can find the variation of atmospheric pressure with height.
Let p(y) be the atmospheric pressure at...

The basic equation for a pressure field in fluid mechanics captures the balance of forces within any segment of fluid, providing a foundational understanding of how pressure changes within fluids under various forces. Generally, two main types of forces act on any part of a fluid: surface forces and body forces. Surface forces arise from pressure differences across points within the fluid, which result in net forces that can vary depending on the local pressure gradient. Body forces, on the...

Gas pressure is caused by force exerted by gas molecules colliding with the surfaces of objects. Although the force of each collision is very small, any surface of an appreciable area experiences a large number of collisions in a short time, which can result in high pressure.

The ideal gas law is an approximation that works well at high temperatures and low pressures. The van der Waals equation of state (named after the Dutch physicist Johannes van der Waals, 1837−1923) improves it by considering two factors.
First, the attractive forces between molecules, which are stronger at higher densities and reduce the pressure, are considered by adding to the pressure a term equal to the square of the molar density multiplied by a positive coefficient a. Second, the volume...

The kinetic model of gases explains the properties of a perfect gas using three main assumptions: molecules move in ceaseless random motion, their size is negligible compared to the distances between them, and they do not interact except during perfectly elastic collisions. The total energy of a gas is the sum of the kinetic energies of all its constituent molecules. The pressure exerted by the gas arises from the continual bombardment of the container walls by billions of colliding molecules.

The partial pressure of a gas is a measure of the thermodynamic activity of the gas's molecules. The pressure that a gas would create if it occupied the total volume available is called the gas's partial pressure. If two or more gases are mixed together in a container, the molecules move randomly and collide with each other, causing them to reach thermal equilibrium. When the gases have the same temperature, their molecules have the same average kinetic energy. Thus, each gas obeys the ideal...