- #1
mcmath
- 5
- 0
Hi, apologies in advance as I feel stupid for asking this, but believe me I tried googling. The typical explanation for atmospheric pressure is that there is a column of air sitting on us, creating a pressure of 101 kPa. But what if there's a ceiling above us? Now only a few feet of molecules is directly above our heads. Why doesn't atmospheric pressure change? I remember vaguely from a physics course that it's related to pressure being a state function only dependent on elevation, and that pressure is applied in all directions at the given elevation. So I can understand that my arms may feel the 101 kpa pressure, but if I'm indoors, why does the top of my head still feel the same 101 kpa pressure?