Why doesn't atmospheric pressure affect weight?

1 Answer
Phillip E.
Jan 7, 2018

The reason why atmospheric pressure doesn't affect weight is that it acts in all directions.

Explanation:

Weight is the force we experience pushing up from the surface by our mass and gravity. So, our weight in Newtons is our mass in kilograms multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity #g=9.81m \/ s^2#

Air pressure is all around us. Yes, it presses down increasing our weight. It also presses up on our upward facing surfaces which cancels it out.

There is a small difference in weight due to air pressure, but most of it is cancelled out.

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