If you could somehow replace the mercury in a mercury barometer with a denser liquid,?

Question

would the height of the liquid column be greater than or less than the mercury? Why? Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Well, it depends on how much you put in there.  But in general, the density of liquid is inversely proportional to the specific volume.  The denser the liquid, the less volume it will have... and because the diameter of the tube will not change, the height will.  So the height will be less than that of the mercury.

d = density

v = specific volume    

v = 1/d

Answer 2

Less - the air pressure would support the same weight which would be a lower volume and thus a lower height of liquid.

  If you replace the mercury with a lighter liquid it is taller - a water barometer would be 33 feet tall instead of 30 inches.