fluid statics - Atmospheric Pressure inside a closed room

Even though they’re too tiny to see, all the molecules of air in the atmosphere above your head weigh something. And the combined weight of these molecules causes a pressure pressing down on your body of 10,000 kg per square metre. This means that the mass of the air above the 0.1 square metre cross section of your body is 1,000 kg, or a tonne.

I would agree with the argument that the atmospheric pressure is a result of the weight of the air above me were I standing in an open area. I do not understand how, by this model of atmospheric pressure, the reason of atmospheric pressure can be explained in a closed room say.

Sourcehttp://www.physics.org/facts/air-really.asp

Answer

From Pascal's law, we know that pressure is isotropic, which means that at a given location in a fluid, it acts equally in all directions. So, at a given location, the horizontal force per unit area acting on a small vertical surface is the same as the vertical force per unit area acting on a small horizontal surface.

Usually, a room is not hermetically sealed, so it is not totally separated from the atmosphere. Any connection between the room and the atmosphere allows the pressure to equalize (by air flowing in or out). As we said above, pressure acts horizontally also, so air can come through a vertical crack just as easily as through a horizontal crack. In a house, there are typically vents in the attic which allow communication with the atmosphere.

If the room were totally hermetically sealed from the atmosphere, then you could impose any air pressure you wanted inside the room. It would not have to match the outside atmospheric pressure. But, the forces on the walls could get pretty large between inside and outside as a result of the pressure difference, and you would have to be pretty careful so that the room didn't implode or explode. When tornadoes occur, the atmospheric pressure outside drops substantially, and people are recommended to open the windows (to allow the pressures to equalize) in order to avoid the windows blowing out (or even worse).