Who invented mercury barometer?
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The first barometer was devised in 1643 by Evangelista Torricelli. Torricelli had set out to create an instrument to measure the weight of air, or air pressure, and to study the nature of vacuums. He used mercury, perhaps on a suggestion from Galileo Galilei, because it is significantly denser than water. To create a vacuum with water takes a column over 30 feet long, while with mercury it takes less than four feet.