Question

A trekker climbs up a mountain carrying a mercury barometer setup. As he goes up the mountain, the mercury column level__________.

• A. goes up
• B. goes down
• C. remains as it is
• D. goes down to zero

Answer 1

The correct option is B goes down

With increase in altitude, the atmospheric pressure decreases. The height of a mercury column in a barometer indicates the atmospheric pressure. So, with increase in altitude the mercury column goes down, but the column would not fall down to zero because there exists no mountain with such a height to have zero atmospheric pressure.