Question

Pressure = Force/Area. Explain.

Answer 1

Hint: Have you ever wondered why our knives must be so sharp, or why the nails we use have a sharp point? The concept of pressure contains the answers to all of these questions. It is the ratio of the force applied to the surface area applied.

Complete answer:
The force exerted on a surface divided by the area over which that force acts is defined as pressure. Because pressure is defined as force divided by area, its meter-kilogram-second (MKS) units are Newtons per square meter ($N/m^2$). The units in the foot-pound-second (FPS) system are pounds per square inch (psi). Because force is directly proportional to pressure, the more force you apply to something, the more force you apply upon a fixed area, the more pressure you create.

Pressure is expressed in pounds per square inch, Newtons per square meter, or Pascals. Other units for expressing pressure include atmosphere, bar, torr, and meters of sea water.Pascal is a derived unit from the SI unit of pressure.The intriguing aspect of pressure is that it is a scalar quantity, meaning it has only magnitude but no direction. The value of pressure can be either positive or negative.

Because the pressure is proportional to the area over which the force acts, the pressure can be increased and decreased without affecting the force. If the force applied remains constant, the pressure increases as the surface shrinks, and vice versa.Pressure can be seen in the operation of a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum's fan creates a low-pressure zone, making it easy to suck dust particles inside the vacuum.Another example of pressure is cutting with a knife. The knife's exposed area is small, but the pressure is sufficient to cut the vegetables and fruits.

Note: Because the earth's atmospheric air is surrounded by a layer of gases, the pressure exerted by this air surrounding the earth is known as the 'atmospheric pressure.' It has a value of 101325 Pa at sea level.