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Hydrostatic BalanceThe hydrostatic balance is a balance between the pressure gradient force and the force of gravity in the earth's atmosphere. In the atmosphere, the pressure of air decreases with increasing altitude. This causes an upward force, called the pressure gradient force, which tries to smooth over pressure differences. The force of gravity, on the other hand, almost exactly balances this out, keeping the atmosphere bound to the earth and maintaining pressure differences with altitude. Without the pressure gradient force, the atmosphere would collapse to a much thinner shell around the earth, and without the force of gravity, the pressure gradient force would diffuse the atmosphere into space, leaving earth with hardly any atmosphere.
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