Barometer, device used to measure atmospheric pressure.

Because
atmospheric pressure changes with distance above or below sea
level, a barometer can also be used to measure altitude. There are
two main types of barometers: mercury and aneroid.

mercury barometerMercury barometer.Hannes Grobe

In the mercury barometer, atmospheric pressure balances a column
of mercury, the height of which can be precisely measured. To
increase their accuracy, mercury barometers are often corrected for
ambient temperature and the local value of gravity.
Common pressure units include pounds per square inch; dynes per
square centimetre; newtons per square metre (the SI unit called the
pascal); inches, centimetres, or millimetres of mercury; and millibars
(1 millibar equals 1,000 dynes per square centimetre, 100 pascals, or
0.75 millimetre of mercury). Atmospheric pressure at sea level is
about 14.7 pounds per square inch, equivalent to 30 inches (760
millimetres) of mercury, 1,013.2 millibars, or 101,320 pascals.

barometer evolutionAn overview of atmospheric pressure and the development of the

barometer.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Of the many different varieties of mercury barometers, most
variations arise from different techniques for measuring the height of
the mercury column. Though other liquids can be used in a
barometer, mercury is the most common. Its density allows the
vertical column of the barometer to be of manageable size. If water
were used, for instance, the column would have to be 34 feet high.
A nonliquid barometer called the aneroid barometer is widely used in
portable instruments and in aircraft altimeters because of its smaller
size and convenience. It contains a flexible-walled evacuated capsule,
the wall of which deflects with changes in atmospheric pressure. This
deflection is coupled mechanically to an indicating needle. A
mercury barometer is used to calibrate and check aneroid
barometers. Calibration can be, for example, in terms of atmospheric
pressure or altitude above sea level. The concept of altitude above sea
level, based on barometric pressure, is used to create one type of
aircraft altimeter.