Science Common Sense


1549 - How do air temperature and pressure change with height.

Imagine you're going up a really, really tall mountain. As you go higher, two things happen:

  1. Temperature decreases: It gets colder. This is because the air gets thinner and can't hold as much heat. It's like when you're wearing a warm blanket, but then you take it off – you feel colder, right? That's what's happening with the air as you go higher.
  2. Air pressure decreases: The air gets less dense. It's like when you're at the bottom of a swimming pool, and the water pressure is strong, but as you swim up, the pressure gets weaker. The same thing happens with air pressure as you go higher.

So, to sum it up: as you go higher, the air gets colder and the air pressure gets weaker.