We're always under pressure from the atmosphere around us, even if we forget! Using the Qwiic MicroPressureSensor as the cornerstone of her project, Mariah built a tool that can measure height using atmospheric pressure readings. You'll even get a look at the software she used as well! Check it out below, and think about what projects you might want to do with measuring pressure.
Measuring Height with Atmospheric Pressure
September 29, 2022
Measure height using atmospheric pressure with your Qwiic MicroPressure breakout board!
In this tutorial, you learn how to build a pressure sensor-based height measuring tool using the Qwiic MicroPressure Sensor! If this sounds like a project that you want to build, or if you've ever wanted to get started with Qwiic, this is a perfect starting place.
We can't wait to see what you make. To show us your cool projects, shoot us a tweet @sparkfun, or let us know on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.
It sort of reminds me of the story about the teacher who asked the students to explain how to measure the height of the building using a precision altimeter. The answer he expected was to note the altitude at the top and bottom of the building and subtract the bottom's value from the top's value. One student suggested a variety of ways, including dropping it from the top of the building and timing how long it takes to hit the ground, offering it to the building superintendant for the info, measuring the shadows cast by the building and by the altimeter and use a ruler to measure the height of the altimeter -- the two shadows will be proportional to the height, suspending the altimeter from the top by a string long enough to reach the ground and then measuring the string, and a few others. I've heard it suggested that the student was Niels Bohr, but off hand can't find any reference to that.