Chapter 10, Problem 61EAP

The Mass of an Atmosphere. What is the total mass of Earth’s atmosphere? You may use the fact that 1 bar is the pressure exerted by 10,000 kilograms pushing down on a square meter in Earth’s gravity. Remember that every square meter of Earth experiences this pressure from the atmosphere above it. Alternatively, you may start with the English unit value for pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch and convert to kilograms for your final answer. Remember that the surface area of a sphere of radius r is  $\text{4}\pi {\text{r}}^2$ .