Vacuum Cylinder

DCS Code: 2B20.64 Last Updated: March 27, 2026
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Purpose

Demonstrates the magnitude of atmospheric pressure by using a hand vacuum pump to evacuate a cylinder, allowing atmospheric pressure to lift and support a ~12 kg weight with only 2-3 pump strokes. Only an 8% reduction from atmospheric pressure is needed, showing how large atmospheric forces really are.

Vacuum cylinder mounted vertically between two support rods with table clamps, hand vacuum pump on left connected by hose, heavy weight hanging from piston
Figure 1: Vacuum cylinder apparatus: cylinder suspended from a horizontal rod between two table clamps, with hand vacuum pump connected via hose and a ~12 kg weight hanging from the piston.