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Lesson 8 - Understanding Atmospheric Pressure |
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| Olympic athletes know that training at high elevations enhances their endurance and stamina, because their lungs must work harder to take in enough air. What those athletes may not know is that at higher altitudes, air molecules are further apart than at lower altitudes, which allows an athlete to jump a little higher and run a little faster. |
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| Whenever air molecules are farther apart anything passing through those air molecules can move a little bit faster and a little bit further, because the object is colliding with less molecules and is therefore less affected by drag or friction. Since air is a tangible material substance, its mass is additionally affected by the force of gravity. This is just as true for air as it is for an athlete. At higher elevations air molecules can essentially spread out and are less affected by drag. In fact, it can be shown that atmospheric pressure decreases exponentially as altitudes increase. | |
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