Make Your Own Barometer
Make Your own Barometer!
What is air pressure? Did you know you can make something that will measure
air pressure? You can actually do a bit of weather predicting from a simple
made-at-home piece of equipment.
What do I Need?
An
empty coffee can
A large
balloon
A large
rubber band, one that will fit snugly around the coffee can
A pin
Glue
Straw
Paper
What Do I Do?
First,
as an experiment, blow up the balloon. Think about how the more air there
is in the balloon, the more pressure it exerts outward. This is what makes
the balloon bigger as you blow it up.
Cut
a large piece of the balloon and stretch it over the coffee can. Hole the
balloon in place with a rubber band stretched around the can, over the
balloon. Make sure there is a tight seal around the rubber band. Any air
leaks around the piece of balloon will affect how well your barometer will
work.
Use a little glue (not hot melt) and attach the straw to the piece of balloon
over the can. Then use a little more glue and attach the pin to the other
end of the straw (see diagram.)
Take
a piece of paper and place some regularly spaced lines on it.
Set
up the can and paper as shown in the diagram. Outside will work better
than inside.
Using Your Barometer
Make
several daily recording for about a week. Make notes about the weather
when you take the readings. What do you notice about the readings and the
weather? Compare the readings of the barometer outside with those of a
barometer inside.
How Does
It Work?