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Subject:
Air molecules at different altitudes
Category: Science > Physics Asked by: jazzguy-ga List Price: $2.00 |
Posted:
27 Jul 2004 11:14 PDT
Expires: 26 Aug 2004 11:14 PDT Question ID: 379773 |
Assuming the same air temp. and humidity levels: If I have an air compressor pressurizing a 5gal. tank at an altitude of 5,000ft. above sea level and an identical compressor pressurizing a 5gal. tank at sea level, will there be a differing amount of air molecules in the 5gal. tanks? |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: Air molecules at different altitudes
From: leoj-ga on 27 Jul 2004 11:19 PDT |
Yes. Compressors work against the atmospheric pressure as a starting point, so the compressed air with be at essentially the same "gauge pressure" in the two tanks. Gauge pressure is relative to the surrounding environment - it is what a gauge reads that measures the difference between a tank and the surrounding air. |
Subject:
Re: Air molecules at different altitudes
From: touf-ga on 27 Jul 2004 17:22 PDT |
That's right. At sea level, your atmospheric pressure is approximately 14.17 psi. At 5000 feet, it is approximately 12.23 psi. This is assuming the standard temperature of 0 degrees C in both cases. So, at sea level, when your tank gauge reads 100 psi, you actually have 114.17 psi absolute inside your tank. At 5000 feet, you have 112.23 psi absolute in your tank. Therefore, at sea level, you have more air molecules in your tank than at a given altitude (above sea level, assuming constant temperature). You can easily prove this to yourself by taking an sealed, empty (empty means filled with air) 2-liter bottle and driving from Denver (5280 ft) to Los Angeles (0 feet). Since the bottle is sealed, no molecules enter or escape. However, since the atmospheric pressure changes, you will notice a decrease in volume. In other words, the bottle will appear squished. And since pressure, volume, and number of molecules are all related by the equation PV = nRT, where P = pressure, V = volume, n = number of moles of gas, R = gas constant, and T = absolute temperature, you can do the math from there. |
Subject:
Re: Air molecules at different altitudes
From: neilzero-ga on 27 Jul 2004 17:49 PDT |
I think I disagree: The guage will only read about 80 psi at an altitude of 5000 feet, so the pressure will be about 92 psia instead of 112 psia. This is because the compressor will draw in fewer air molecules per stroke in the same number of minutes of compressing. Alternately the compressor will need to run about 20 % longer for the gauge to read 100 psi which will make the touf answer correct. Neil |
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