Air pressure rises and falls but I dont seem to notice anything

what if air pressure suddenly went from min to max

what would happen?

The difference between min and max at sea level is too small to notice for insensitive analog systems like us.

CrazyNeutrino said:

Air pressure rises and falls but I dont seem to notice anything. what if air pressure suddenly went from min to max. what would happen?

All the air spaces in your body are connected, so unless there are blockages (eg. of sinuses or Eustachian tubes) you won’t notice anything. It’s small blockages of the Eustachian tubes than make ears pop when for example an aeroplane cabin pressure is changed, you travel vertically in a high lift, travel up or down a high hill in a car, or dive underwater. The equalization of air pressure over a body in physics goes by the name “hydrostatic”.

Air pressure changes by about 2 kPa on a base of 101 kPa, or about a 2% variation. It’s about the same as going up or down about 200 metres, about the same as a lift in a 55 storey building.

>Air pressure changes by about 2 kPa on a base of 101 kPa, or about a 2% variation. It’s about the same as going up or down about 200 metres, about the same as a lift in a 55 storey building.

What of equiv air pressure changes from a loudspeaker, if I sweep the frequency band at low frequencies, what frequency or frequency range will give me a physical sensation (other than ears and that connected)?

CrazyNeutrino said:

Air pressure rises and falls but I dont seem to notice anything

what if air pressure suddenly went from min to max

what would happen?

The highest pressure I’ve seen is 1030 hpa, the lowest about 960 hpa I think.
If your body was subjected to those pressure changes very quickly you’d very much notice it. Going ‘up’ wouldn’t be do bad but going ‘down’ would be extremely painful, perhaps a little like a gun going off in each ear.

>>>The highest pressure I’ve seen is 1030 hpa, the lowest about 960 hpa I think.

Is this why we hear things further away some days but not so much on other days?

CrazyNeutrino said:

>>>The highest pressure I’ve seen is 1030 hpa, the lowest about 960 hpa I think.

Is this why we hear things further away some days but not so much on other days?

Air density and movement are some of the factors.

Air pressure changes over a few minutes in descending aircraft can be quite uncomfortable, so I’d imagine that an instantaneous change from min to max would also be noticeable.

The Rev Dodgson said:

Air pressure changes over a few minutes in descending aircraft can be quite uncomfortable, so I’d imagine that an instantaneous change from min to max would also be noticeable.

Would it burst an ear drum?

ms spock said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Air pressure changes over a few minutes in descending aircraft can be quite uncomfortable, so I’d imagine that an instantaneous change from min to max would also be noticeable.

Would it burst an ear drum?

Going the other way it’s called explosive decompression.

Tamb said:

ms spock said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Air pressure changes over a few minutes in descending aircraft can be quite uncomfortable, so I’d imagine that an instantaneous change from min to max would also be noticeable.

Would it burst an ear drum?

Going the other way it’s called explosive decompression.

So the ear drums kind of turns insideout? Explosive decompression sounds painful.

ms spock said:

Tamb said:

ms spock said:

Would it burst an ear drum?

Going the other way it’s called explosive decompression.

So the ear drums kind of turns insideout? Explosive decompression sounds painful.

If your Eustachian tubes are clear is needn’t be too bad but a blocked tube can lead to a burst ear drum. Kids are especially vulnerable due to their smaller diameter tubes.

Tamb said:

ms spock said:

Tamb said:

Going the other way it’s called explosive decompression.

So the ear drums kind of turns insideout? Explosive decompression sounds painful.

If your Eustachian tubes are clear is needn’t be too bad but a blocked tube can lead to a burst ear drum. Kids are especially vulnerable due to their smaller diameter tubes.

I saw a small child scream on take off and landing. Perhaps that is the reason why?

Air enters and exits the middle ear via the Eustachian canal. Because of the anatomy, it gets out much easier than it gets in, so rupturing an eardrum during pressure decrease is pretty unusual, unless the change is very rapid and intense. Rupturing ear drum during the course of pressure increase (e.g. scuba descent, explosion proximal to ear) is much more common.

pesce.del.giorno said:

Air enters and exits the middle ear via the Eustachian canal. Because of the anatomy, it gets out much easier than it gets in, so rupturing an eardrum during pressure decrease is pretty unusual, unless the change is very rapid and intense. Rupturing ear drum during the course of pressure increase (e.g. scuba descent, explosion proximal to ear) is much more common.

Thanks

ms spock said:

Tamb said:

ms spock said:

So the ear drums kind of turns insideout? Explosive decompression sounds painful.

If your Eustachian tubes are clear is needn’t be too bad but a blocked tube can lead to a burst ear drum. Kids are especially vulnerable due to their smaller diameter tubes.

I saw a small child scream on take off and landing. Perhaps that is the reason why?

Not necessarily. Though this is also about pressure, it doesn’t relate directly and only to pressure on eardrums. For example.. I scream all the way but my eardrums are intact.

pesce.del.giorno said:

Air enters and exits the middle ear via the Eustachian canal. Because of the anatomy, it gets out much easier than it gets in, so rupturing an eardrum during pressure decrease is pretty unusual, unless the change is very rapid and intense. Rupturing ear drum during the course of pressure increase (e.g. scuba descent, explosion proximal to ear) is much more common.

You can get used to faster pressure changes with practice. (Well I did at least)
One of the crappy freighters I used to fly was barely pressurised and to get the best fuel burn I used to do very steep descents. The cabin pressure in an airliner normally comes down at around 300’ per minute, I was doing around 4,000’/min. Takes a little getting used to, but I did.
Going up is much easier but still needs a bit of practice – though if you have a cold or the like, it WILL be rather painful.

roughbarked said:

ms spock said:

Tamb said:

If your Eustachian tubes are clear is needn’t be too bad but a blocked tube can lead to a burst ear drum. Kids are especially vulnerable due to their smaller diameter tubes.

I saw a small child scream on take off and landing. Perhaps that is the reason why?

Not necessarily. Though this is also about pressure, it doesn’t relate directly and only to pressure on eardrums. For example.. I scream all the way but my eardrums are intact.

How about the eardrums of the people sitting next to you?

Tamb said:

roughbarked said:

ms spock said:

I saw a small child scream on take off and landing. Perhaps that is the reason why?

Not necessarily. Though this is also about pressure, it doesn’t relate directly and only to pressure on eardrums. For example.. I scream all the way but my eardrums are intact.

How about the eardrums of the people sitting next to you?

I scream internally, silently to observers.