04/08/2020 The atmosphere of Mars exerts a pressure of only 600Pa on the surface and has a density of only 0.02kg/m^3.

0.02kg/m^3. a) What is the thick…

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The atmosphere of Mars exerts a pressure of only

600Pa on the surface and has a density of only...

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Question:
The atmosphere of Mars exerts a pressure of only 600Pa on the surface and has a density of only 0.02kg/m3 .

a) What is the thickness of the Martian atmosphere, assuming the boundary between atmosphere and outer space to
be the point where atmospheric pressure drops to 0.01% of its value at surface level? (The mass of Mars is 6.4186x10
23
kg, and the radius of Mars is 3.3895x106 m.)

b) What is the atmospheric pressure at the bottom of Mars's Hellas Planitia canyon, at a depth of 7km?

c) What is the atmospheric pressure at the top of Mars's Olympus Mons volcano, at a height of 27km?

d) Compare the relative change in air pressure, p/p, between these two points on Mars and between the equivalent
extremes on Earth the Dead Sea shore, at 400m below sea level, and Mount Everest, at an altitude of 8850m.

Pressure and height

To solve the problem we must apply the concepts related to the calculation of atmospheric pressure according to
height. This relationship is mathematically given by the following function,
−hρ0 g

p0
p(h) = p0 e

Here,
p0 = Atmospheric Pressure

h = Height

ρ = Density

g = Acceleration due to gravity

 Answer and Explanation:

PART A)

The relationship between the thickness of the atmosphere and the pressure is given by
−hρ0 g

p0
p(h) = p0 e

p0
h = − log(0.01%)
ρ0 g

600P a
h = − log(0.0001)
3 2
(0.02kg/m )(3.73m/s )

h = 74.1km

PART B)

The depth of the given point is

3
h = −7.00 × 10 m

So we have to

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04/08/2020 The atmosphere of Mars exerts a pressure of only 600Pa on the surface and has a density of only 0.02kg/m^3. a) What is the thick…
−hρ0 g

p0
p(h) = p0 e

3 3 2
−(−7 × 10 m)(0.02kg/m )(3.73m/s )

p(h) = (600P a)e 600P a

p(h) = 1432P a

PART C) At the top of Olympus Mar's volcano we have that

3
h = 27 × 10 m

Then using the same relation,

−hρ g
0

p
p(h) = p0 e 0

3 3 2
−(27 × 10 m)(0.02kg/m )(3.73m/s )

p(h) = (600P a)e 600P a

p(h) = 20.9P a

PART D) 'With the previous values of the pressure found we have that the relative change in pressure will be'

FOR MARS:
Δp 1432P a−20.9P a
= × 100%
p 600P a

Δp
= 235%
p

FOR EARTH:

Lowest point,
−hρ0 g

p0
p(h) = p0 e

3 2
−(−400m)(1.229kg/m )(9.81m/s )

5 5
p(h) = (1.01 × 10 P a)e 1.01×10 Pa

3
p(h) = 106 × 10 P a

Highest point,
−hρ0 g

p0
p(h) = p0 e

3 2
−(8850m)(1.229kg/m )(9.81m/s )

5 5
p(h) = (1.01 × 10 P a)e 1.01 × 10 P a

3
p(h) = 35.1 × 10 P a

Then the change in pressure will be,

Δp 106000P a−35100P a
= × 100%
p 5
1.01×10 P a

Δp
= 70.2%
p

The change in pressure on Mars is notoriously more abrupt than the change in pressure on earth between the
highest point and its lowest point.

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