How many feet of water does one standard atmosphere equal?

One standard atmosphere is defined as the pressure exerted by a column of mercury 760 mm (millimeters) high at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius at sea level. This pressure can also be expressed in terms of the height of a water column. The conversion factor between mercury and water is that 1 mm of mercury corresponds to approximately 13.6 mm of water height due to water's lower density compared to mercury.

When calculating the equivalent height of water for one standard atmosphere:

1. Convert the height of mercury to meters: 760 mm is equivalent to 0.760 meters.

2. Use the density ratio to find the equivalent water column height:

0.760 m of mercury can be converted to water height using the relation:

[

\text{Water height} = \frac{0.760 \text{ m} \times \text{density of mercury}}{\text{density of water}}

]

With the actual densities being approximately 13.6 times greater for mercury than for water, the water height becomes:

[

\text{Water height} \approx 0.760 \text{ m} \times 13.6 \approx 10