NOTES

JULY 2021
Ch 14:PRESSURE

GRADE : 8 SUBJECT: PHYSICS

 Pressure is the effect of force.

 It is always effective with respect to an area.

 Wherever force is applied, pressure exists

 Its effect always depends on the amount of force applied on a surface wherein the
area in contact also plays a major role.

Definition:

Pressure is defined as the amount of force applied or exerted over an area.

Formula:

Force
Pressure = ----------
Area

Units:

SI unit is N/m2 or Pascal (Pa)

It is also expressed in N/cm2

The unit Pascal is given after the name of the French mathematician-physicist
Blaise Pascal as an honour.

 Pressure always depends on the force exerted on a surface as well as the surface
area in contact.
 Pressure is directly proportional to the force applied whereas inversely proportional to
the area in contact.

 That is the reason where the area in contact varies from object to object and place to
place based on the amount of pressure need to be applied based on the requirement.

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 Examples:

 Veggies can be cut easily with a sharp knife whereas difficult with a blunt
one.

 Nail can be easily fixed with the sharp edge compared to the other end.

 It hurts when poked with a sharp object compared to the object which has
more surface area.

Etc….

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Pressure in different states of matter:

In three different states of matter, the pressure acts among the particles in a different way.

 In Solids, usually force is applied from the top so pressure always acts through the
particles towards the ground.

 Actually in solids, pressure is always applied in the direction of force exerted on any
surface.

 In Liquids, pressure is applied not only in the direction of force but also on the walls
of the container.

 In Liquids, pressure is applied equally in all points at a level.

 In Liquids, as when the depth increases the pressure applied on the particles also
increases.

 In Gases, pressure is applied through particles in all the directions due to their
random movement.

 As when the matter changes its state from solid to liquid to gases, the pressure
between the particles gradually increases.

 Solids and liquids are incompressible.

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  Hydraulic system:

 The above image is the basic set up of a hydraulic system.

 It works on two basic principles of liquids.

i) Incompressibility of liquids.

ii) Pressure transfer between the particles.

 When force is applied on liquids, the particles apply equal force on the walls of the
container and on the other particles which leads to transmit the pressure from one
place to another.

 Here, because the area occupied by the particles is fixed as when the pressure
between the particles increases, leads a high force on the other end.

 This means, the little amount of force applied at one end is leading to a larger force
on the other end. So, the hydraulic system is known as a force multiplier.

 There are varies applications of this hydraulics like a hydraulic jack, brake system,
cranes etc.

These are some of the applications of hydraulics.

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Applications of Gas pressure:

 The Pressure created by the gas particles in the atmosphere around us is known as
atmospheric pressure which is almost equal to 100000 N/m2. This doesn’t affect us
because the gas pressure around us acts equally in all directions and the blood
pressure inside our body is capable enough to balance it.

 The other application of gas pressure is ear popping.

Usually air pressure is maintained in our middle ear equally in all the directions.
But if we are allowing the air pressure to release by swallowing, by climbing a hill etc
then there will be a pressure difference created between the outside pressure and
the inner ear because of which we hear a popping sound from the ear.

If the outside pressure in more than the inner ear then the eardrum is pushed
outside and when the air pressure in maintained to normal then it pops back and
viceversa.

 There is one more application for this pressure difference based on which a sucker
sticks.

When a sucker is kept on a surface and pressure is applied on it, all the
particles inside the sucker are pushed out and a partial vacuum is created because
of which pressure difference arises and makes sucker stick.

It is possible only when sucker applied on a flat surface. If it is applied on a rough

surface ,due to inequalities air particles enter the internal part of the sucker and I
can’t be stick.

 The other applications are crushing a can, aerosol etc.

What is an Aerosol:

 The normal spray bottles which we use in day to day life like sanitizer, deodrants,
room fresheners etc can be considered as an example of an aerosol.

 Aerosol is a spray bottle which consists of gas at a high pressure compressed in a

container by a valve in the nozzle.

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  When the nozzle spring is pressed the gas sprays out the liquid inside the container
with high pressure in the form of droplets and when the pressure is released it
doesn’t spray anything.

 Earlier CFC’s were used in aerosols but nowadays it is replaced with the gases
produced in oil refineries to reduce the damage caused to the ozone layer.

 Now we are going to discuss the most important application of gas pressure. I,e.,
Hovercraft.

Hovercraft:

 A Hovercraft is which can be driven on land, water and air .

 It consists of two fans (also known as propellers) sometimes even one which are
used to provide continuous air pressure to it.

 It has a skirt around is edge which prevents the air from escaping quickly.

 It also consists of a cushion beneath the hovercraft which reduces the friction
between it and the ground.

 When the propellers provide continuous air pressure to the hovercraft it helps as the
upthrust for the hovercraft to lift itself above the ground and move forward. The skirt
around its edges helps the hovercraft to maintain the pressure under the hovercraft
to travel further.

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