 Mass of a thin hydrostatic atmosphere

ID: mass-of-a-thin-hydrostatic-atmosphere

P_{0}

and

P_{top}

(P_{0} - P_{top}) / g

. A thin atmosphere over a spherical planet therefore has

M_{atm} ≃ \frac{4 π R _{p}^{2} ( P _{0} - P _{top} )}{g} ≃ \frac{4 π R _{p}^{4} P _{0}}{G M _{p}}

when its top pressure is negligible.

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