eli5: Why do our ears pop when we change altitude? And if it’s pressure, why do they do it in pressurised plane cabins?

Question

eli5: Why do our ears pop when we change altitude? And if it’s pressure, why do they do it in pressurised plane cabins?

In: 14

Answer 1

Pressurized cabins do not maintain full sea-level pressure. Being in a pressurized cabin is about the same pressure that you would feel on top of an 8,000 foot mountain. There is enough pressure to be safe and for most people to feel comfortable, but still quite a pressure change from takeoff to cruising altitude (unless you took off from an airport that is high in the mountains).