FORCE AND PRESESSURE

Section A
1. A force of 1200 N acts on the surface of area 10 cm 2 normally. What would be the thrust and
pressure on the surface?
2. The elephant weighs 20,000 N stands on one foot of area 1000 cm 2. How much pressure
would it exert on the ground?
3. Calculate the pressure produced by a force of 800 N acting on an area of 2.0 m 2.
4. The pressure of a gas contained in a cylinder with a movable piston is 300 Pa. The area of
the piston is 0.5 m2. Calculate the force that is exerted on the piston.
5. A swimming pool of width 9.0 m and length 24.0 m is filled with water to a depth of 3.0 m.
Calculate pressure on the bottom of the pool due to the water.
Section B
Q.1. A force of 100 N is applied on an object of area 2 m2. Calculate the pressure.

Q.2. The force on a phonogram needle is 1.2 N. The point has a circular cross-section of radius
0.1mm. What pressure does it exert on the record in (i) Pa (ii) atm ?

Q.3. A nail is driven into a wooden board by using a hammer. The impact the hammer on the
head of nail produces a thrust of 25 N. If the area of the head is 0.5 mm 2 and of the tip 0.1 mm2,
find the pressure on the head and the tip of the nail.

Q.4. A force of 15 N is uniformly distributed over an area of 1`50 m2. Find the pressure in pascals.

Q.5. A block of wood is kept on a table top. The mass of the wooden block is 5 kg and its
dimension are 40 cm x 20 cm x 10 cm. Find the pressure exerted by the wooden block on the
table top if it is made to lie on the table with its sides of dimensions (a) 20 cm x 10 cm (b) 40 cm
x 20 cm. Given g = 9.8 m/s2.

Q.6. How much force should be applied on an area of 1 cm2 to get a pressure of 15 Pa?

Q.7. A block weighing 1.0 kg is in the shape of a cube of length 10 cm. It is kept on a horizontal
table. Find the pressure on the portion of the table where the block is kept.

Q.8. Find the thrust acting on the human body due to atmospheric pressure. Take the surface
area of a man of middle size to be 1.5 m2 and atmospheric pressure (1 atm) = 1.013 x 105 Pa.

Q.9. A boy weighing 60 kg f is wearing shoes with heel area of cross section 20 cm 2 while a girl
weighing 45 kg f is wearing shoes with heel of area of cross section 1.5 cm 2. Compare the pressure
exerted on ground by their heels when they stand on the heel of one floor.

Q.10. A cube of edge length 10 cm is placed inside a liquid. The pressure at the centre of the face
is 15 Pa. Find the force exerted by the liquid on this face.

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Q.11. A force of 16 N is distributed uniformly on one surface of a cube of edge 8 cm. Find the
pressure on this surface.

Q.12. A car weighs 1200 kg. This weight is evenly distributed on 4 wheels. If the pressure in each
tyre is 15 kg wf/cm2, what is the area of each tyre in contact.

Q.13. Calculate the greatest and the least pressure exerted by a metal block of size 20 cm x 8 cm
x 5 cm and having a mass of 5 kg.

Q.14. A hydraulic automobile lift is designed to lift cars with a maximum mass of 3000 kg. The
area of the piston carrying the load is 425 cm 2. What maximum pressure would the smaller piston
have to bear?

Q.15. The pressure due to atmosphere is 1.013 x 10 5 Pa. Find the force exerted by the
atmosphere on the top surface of a table 2.0 m long and 1.0 m wide.

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Example 1:

A force of 1200 N acts on the surface of area 10 cm2 normally. What would be
the thrust and pressure on the surface?

Given:

Force F = 1200 N, Area A = 10 cm2 = 10 ×10-4 m2 = 10-3 m2

Thrust = Normal pressure = F = 1200 N

Pressure P = F/A 1200N10−3m21200N10−3m2

= 1.2 ×× 106 N/m2

Example 2:

The elephant weighs 20,000 N stands on one foot of area 1000 cm2. How
much pressure would it exert on the ground?

Given:

Force applied by elephant F = 20,000 N, area A = 1000 cm 2 = 1000/100×100m2 =

0.1 m2

The pressure is given by

Pressure P = F/A
= 20,000N/0.1m2

= 2,00,000 N/m2.
Example 3:
Calculate the pressure produced by a force of 800 N acting on an area of 2.0
m2.
Solution:
Pressure is defined as force per unit area or P = F / A
P = (800 N) / (2.0 m2
)
P = 400 N / m2
= 400 Pa

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Example 4:
The pressure of a gas contained in a cylinder with a movable piston is 300 Pa.
The area of the piston is 0.5 m2. Calculate the force that is exerted on the
piston.
Solution
Pressure is defined as force per unit area or P = F / A
We multiply both sides of the equation by the area to solve for the force as
F=PA
F = (300 Pa) (0.5 m2
)
F = 150 (Pa) m2
= 150 (N / m2
) m2
F = 150 N
Example 5:
A swimming pool of width 9.0 m and length 24.0 m is filled with water to a
depth of 3.0 m. Calculate pressure on the bottom of the pool due to the
water.
Solution:
The pressure due to a column of fluid is calculated as the product of the
height of the fluid times
the density of the fluid times the acceleration due to gravity. For water the
density is d = 1000 kg /
m3
.
?P=dhg
? P = (1000 kg / m3
) (3.0 m) (9.8 m / s2
)
? P = 29400 kg m2 / m3
s2
To simplify the units we cancel one m term in the m2
term in the numerator and one m term in
the m3
term in the denominator to get
? P = 29400 kg m / s2
m2

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We know that 1N = 1 kg m / s2
so we can write
? P = 29400 N / m2
= 29400 Pa

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 Friction

Friction can be defined as that force which offers resistance to two surfaces that
are moving against each other. It is mainly due to the intermolecular or IM
attractions that occur between the particles of the two adjoining surfaces. There
are different types of this force namely static, sliding, rolling and fluid. Let us
understand this in detail.
Static friction occurs when an object starts to move which means that for such
friction to occur the object has to overcome the static force friction and start
moving. Sliding friction occurs when an object moves on the surface of the other
object present. This is called ‘slide’. This results in opposing the movement or
slide of the two objects. Additionally, rolling friction occurs when an object rolls
on another surface or object. Lastly, fluid friction occurs when a fluid exerts a
friction force on the object. It can either be air friction where the medium of
travel is air or it can be viscous friction where the medium is water.
There are some variables on which the friction depends on. The first one is the
normal force or. It is the force between the adjacent surfaces that slide against
each other. Second, it depends on the coefficient of Friction which is denoted by
µ. It gives us the nature of the surfaces that slide against each other.

What is the Friction Formula?

Friction is the resisting force that prevents rigid surfaces, fluid layers, and
material elements from slipping against each other from moving in the same
direction. Friction between two surfaces transforms kinetic energy into thermal
energy, or work to heat, as they shift relative to each other. Friction is beneficial
and essential for providing traction and facilitating movement on the ground.
For acceleration, deceleration, and changing direction, most land vehicles
depend on friction. Sudden traction failure can result in a loss of control and an
accident.

Types of Friction
There are four types of friction:

Static Friction
Between a stationary object and the surface on which it is resting, static friction
occurs.
Sliding Friction
When two things slide against each other, sliding friction occurs.

Rolling Friction

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The resistive force that slows the motion of a moving ball or wheel is known as
rolling friction. It's often referred to as rolling resistance.

Fluid Friction
The friction that occurs between the layers of fluid as they are moving
relative to Each other is known as fluid friction.

Friction Force Formula

Consider a solid block resting on a horizontal surface. When a force of ‘P’ is
applied to the block, the block does not move along the force applied. This is
because the frictional
force is more than the applied force which balances the solid block. Here the
frictional force also increases accordingly when the applied force is increased.
Once the applied force reaches more than the frictional force then. The solid
block slides over the horizontal surface. This force when the body begins to
move is called limiting friction.

This friction is called static friction because one body is sliding over the other
which is stationary.

To derive the static friction force formula we have to consider all the forces
acting on the body.

The static friction equation or the coefficient of friction formula or force of

friction equation is given as follows

Here the static frictional force is directly proportional to the normal force acting
on the body.

FαN
F = μN

Where F is the maximum force of static friction.

N is the normal force which is equal to the mass of the body multiplied by the
acceleration due to gravity.

N = mg
μ is the coefficient of friction.

Rolling Friction Formula

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Consider a ball placed on the flat horizontal surface. When a ball is given a
motion to move forward the frictional force from the ground makes the ball
stop. This friction is known as rolling friction.

The rolling friction formula or the coefficient of friction formula for rolling is
given as follows

F=C N rr

Where F is the rolling resistance force.

C is the dimensionless rolling resistance coefficient or the coefficient of rolling

rr

friction (CRF).
N is the normal force that is the force perpendicular to the surface on which the
ball is rolling.

Friction Force Formula for an Inclined Plane

Consider a mass m that is lying on an inclined plane. If the mass is moving down
the plane, the frictional force F will act up the plane.

The friction formula or the coefficient of friction equation or angle of friction

formula is given as follows:

F = μN

Where F = Frictional force.

N = normal force exerted on the body by the plane due to the force of gravity =
mg Cos θ

μ = coefficient of

friction = tan θ
θ = Angle of inclination of the plane over the body slides.

The optimum value of θ for static friction can be obtained by steadily rising θ
until the mass begins to move. This is known as the limiting angle of repose.

Problems on Friction Formula

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1) A boy pulls a body of mass 50Kg resting on a flat horizontal surface.
Calculate the frictional force if the coefficient of friction is 0.3.
Here it is given that mass of the body m = 50Kg and coefficient of friction =0.3

The friction formula is given as

F = μN
Here N is the normal force given by the formula

N = mg
g is the acceleration due to gravity = 9.81 m/s 2

So N = 50 × 9.81 = 5395.5

Kgm/s = 5395.5
2

N , Now substituting the values in the friction formula we get the required
frictional force
F = 0.3 × 5395.5 = 1618.65 N

2) A boy is rolling a ball over the flat horizontal surface. The mass of the
ball is 10 Kg and the coefficient of rolling friction 0.2. Calculate the rolling
resistance force.
Here the

mass of the ball is m = 10 Kg

Coefficient of rolling friction, C = 0.2
rr

The rolling resistance force is given by the formula

F=C Nrr

Here N is the normal force of the body which is given as N = mg

Here g is the acceleration

due to gravity = 9.81 m/s 2

N = 10 × 9.81 = 98.1 Kgm/s = 98.1 N.

2

Substituting the values we will get the required rolling resistance force

F = 0.2 × 98.1 = 19.62 N

Conclusion
The friction force prevents one rigid object from slipping or rolling over another.
Frictional forces, such as the traction required to walk without falling, may be
helpful, but they also create significant resistance to motion. Around 20% of an
automobile's engine power is used to overcome frictional forces in the moving
parts. The forces of attraction, known as adhesion, between the contact regions

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of the surfaces, which are often microscopically irregular, tend to be the primary
cause of friction between metals. Shearing these welded junctions cause
friction, as do the irregularities of the rough surface plowing through the softer
surface.

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