A barometer is an instrument which is used to measure the atmospheric pressure.
A simple barometer, called a mercury barometer, consists of a glass tube filled with mercury, inverted into a container of mercury. The mercury in the tube creates a vacuum at the top, with the height of the mercury column indicating atmospheric pressure. As atmospheric pressure increases, it pushes the mercury column higher, and vice versa. The height of the mercury column can be calibrated to provide a measurement of atmospheric pressure in units such as millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or hectopascals (hPa).