I saw a video the other day explaining air pressure where a teacher breaks a ruler by hitting it over a table underneath a sheet of newspaper. I get generally how that works. But then she said atmospheric pressure is 14 psi and so the whole sheet has 7000lb of pressure on it. That’s BS right? Like it clearly doesn’t have 7000 lbs pressed against it? Isn’t that the weight of the column of air above it?
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yes, that is the weight of the column of air above it. therefore, the sheet of paper has 7000lb resting on it.
granted i didnt do the math, im just agreeing with the teacher on the math they used since im assuming the teacher did their math correctly.
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now you want to know why we are able to move with thousands of pounds of air pressing down on us. we are just like fish in water. we move through the air. our bodies evolved within this vast amount of pressure and is able to withstand it pressing against us and down on us.
if you were to swim to the bottom of the ocean, you would be crushed by the pressure because water weighs quite a bit more than air and our bodies are not designed to stand up to that pressure.
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