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Questions on Pressure

Q5.

(a) Tommy tries on four types of footwear in a sports shop.

(i) When Tommy tries on the footwear, which one sinks into the carpet the most?

The ice-skate

(1 mark)

(ii) When Tommy tries on the footwear, which of the following is the same for each type of footwear?

A the area of the footwear

B Tommy's weight on the footwear

C the material of the footwear

D the weight of the footwear

(1 mark)

(b) The drawing below shows a snowshoe.

Explain how snowshoes help people to walk in deep snow?

Pressure is what makes you sink into the snow. Pressure is force divided by contact area.

The snowshoes have a big contact area with the snow compared to the area of the soles of shoes alone. Therefore they reduce the pressure the person's weight exerts on the snow by spreading it out over a bigger area than would be the case if he just wore shoes. He therefore will not sink as deeply into the snow.

Never say 'they spread out the pressure' - they spread out the force, not the pressure!

(3 marks)

(c) Choose the correct word from the following list to complete the sentence below.

  • air resistance
  • friction
  • gravity
  • magnetism

When Tom is ice skating the force of .......friction.......... between the skate and the ice is less than when he is walking on a carpet.

(1 mark)

Total 6 marks