Third Year Science

Pressure
 In this Topic
• What is Pressure?
• Pressure varies with depth in a liquid
• Air has mass & occupies space
• Atmospheric pressure
• Measuring pressure & it’s applications
• Weather charts & atmospheric pressure
 What is Pressure?

E
a unit area
• To calculate pressure:
Force
Pressure =
Area

• Units = N/cm2 orNcm-2or pascal (Pa)

 Pressure
F • Cover the quantity that
you want to calculate

P x A
• Force = Pressure x Area
• Pressure = Force ÷ Area
• Area = Force ÷ Pressure
 Sample Questions
A force of 200 N acts on an area of 25 m2. Calculate
the pressure.
 Sample Questions
Calculate the pressure on the ground when a person
weighing 500 N balances on 1 heel of a stiletto shoe.
The area of the heel is 1 cm2.
 Sample Questions
Calculate the pressure on the ground when an
elephant weighing 50,000 N balances on one foot.
The area of the elephant’s foot is 400 cm2.
 Sample Questions
A 100 kg block rests on a table. The area of contact
between the block and the table is 4 m2. Calculate the
pressure the block exerts on the table.
Pressure varies with depth in a liquid
Pressure increases with increasing depth of a liquid

• Submarines are built to withstand high pressure

• Divers can only go to certain depths before the
pressure is too high
To show that pressure in a liquid
varies with depth

Pressure increases
with liquid depth

Pressure acts
equally in all
directions
 Air has mass and occupies space
• Remember:
Matter: anything that occupies space and
has mass
• Even though we can’t see it, air is made up
of lots of gases, mixed together
• The gases are classed as matter
• So air has mass and occupies space
To show that air has mass & occupies
space
•Measureit’smasswhen
uninflated
•Observethespaceittakes
Bicycletyreinnertube up(it’svolume)

• Inflate the tube

• Observe increased volume
• Measure it’s new mass
 Atmospheric Pressure
• Earth is covered in a mixture of gases
• About 75 % of the gases are found within 11
km of the Earth’s surface
What we already know:
• Air has a mass
• So the atmosphere has a
mass
• We can calculate the
weight from the mass
 Atmospheric Pressure
Remember:
Weight of an objectE
= the size of the
force of gravity acting on it

• So gravity is forcing or pulling the atmosphere

down around the Earth
• The gases are exerting a force because of this
• This is what leads to ‘atmospheric pressure’
 Atmospheric Pressure
Atmospheric Pressure: the amount of force
from the atmosphere
E acting on a unit area
of the Earth

Approximately:
Thesameas10
tonnesresting
2
on1m
(about3
elephants)
 Atmospheric Pressure
• If the pressure is so high, why don’t we feel it?
• Or why doesn’t it squash us?

External pressure
pushing in = Internal
pressure pushing out

• So we don’t feel it!

 Atmospheric Pressure
• Just like in liquids, atmospheric pressure varies
with depth
• Atmospheric pressure on a mountain top is
much lower than at sea level
To demonstrate atmospheric pressure
 Measuring pressure
• Found on bicycle pumps
• Cars also need the correct air
Pressure gauge
pressure in their tyres. It is checked
using a pressure gauge
 Measuring pressure

Barometer • Measures atmospheric pressure

 Measuring pressure
Measuring • Still measured in mm of mercury
blood pressure (mm Hg)
• Converts atmospheric pressure into
Altimeter height
 Weather Charts
• Atmospheric pressure heavily
influences weather
Low atmospheric pressure
Wind and rain

High atmospheric pressure

Settled, dry weather

• Isobars: show pressure on a weather chart

Chapter 36:
Pressure
DONE!!