What is pressure defined as?

What is pressure defined as?

• A. Force exerted per area
• B. Mass times acceleration
• C. Energy per unit volume
• D. Temperature per volume

Answer: (A)

Pressure is a measure of how concentrated a force is on a surface. It’s defined as the force acting perpendicular to a surface divided by the area of that surface: P = F/A. If you push with the same force on a small area, the pressure is higher; on a larger area, the pressure is lower. The standard unit is the Pascal (N/m^2). The other choices mix up different quantities: force is F = ma, not pressure; energy per unit volume is energy density; temperature per volume isn’t a standard property.

Pressure is a measure of how concentrated a force is on a surface. It’s defined as the force acting perpendicular to a surface divided by the area of that surface: P = F/A. If you push with the same force on a small area, the pressure is higher; on a larger area, the pressure is lower. The standard unit is the Pascal (N/m^2). The other choices mix up different quantities: force is F = ma, not pressure; energy per unit volume is energy density; temperature per volume isn’t a standard property.