Mercury barometers are primarily used for measuring atmospheric pressure. It is a device that consists of an upside-down tube filled with mercury that is in a vessel full of mercury. The atmosphere (or the air) pushes down on the mercury in the vessel, which in turn, pushes the mercury in the tube up. And the height of mercury in this tube (also known as the height of mercury column) is used as a measure of atmospheric pressure. For instance, 1 atmospheric pressure causes a height of 760 mm of mercury in the tube and hence, 1 atmospheric pressure is also equivalent to 760 mm or 76 cm of mercury head.
Since atmospheric pressure varies with altitude, the mercury barometer can also be used to measure the altitude of a place. Primarily, though, it is used for measurement of atmospheric pressure.
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