How do you calculate the height of a column of carbon tetrachloride, #C Cl_4#(l), with a density of 1.59 g/mL that exerts the same pressure as a 15.2 cm column of Mercury, #Hg#(l), that has a density of 13.6 g/ml?

1 Answer
Nov 2, 2016

You can do it like this:

Explanation:

The pressure caused by the fluid is given by:

#sf(P=rhogh)#

#sf(rho)# is the density

#sf(g)# is the acceleration due to gravity

#sf(h)# is the height of the column

Since the pressures are equal we can write:

#sf(rho_(1)cancel(g)h_(1)=rho_(2)cancel(g)h_(2))#

#:.##sf(h_(1)=(rho_(2)h_(2))/(rho_(1))#

#sf(h_(1)=(13.6xx15.2)/(1.59)=130color(white)(x)"cm")#