If force is held constant as surface area decreases pressure

Question

Chemistry

Mercer

26 April, 08:13

If force is held constant as surface area decreases pressure

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Saul Bass · Answer 1

If force is held constant as surface area decreases pressure decreases.

Explanation:

Pressure is defined as the force exerted by unit of surface area. Then, pressure is the quotient of the magnitud of the force exerted and the extension of the area.

Calling F the maginitude of the force, A the value of thesurface area, and P the resultant pressure, the equation that determines the pressure is:

P = F / A

Then, in that equation you can see that the pressure is directly related to the force and inversely related to the area. That means that:

if the force increases as the area is held constant, the pressure increases,

if the force is held constant as the surface area decreases the pressure increases.

That is because the force is in the numerator and the area is in the denominator of the equation.