Question

Anoop places a cuboid of dimensions $12cm\times 8cm\times 6cm$ with different faces touching the table. Which face, when touching the table, will experience the greatest pressure?

• A. All faces experience the same pressure
• B.
• C.
• D.

Answer 1

The correct option is B

$Pressure=\frac{Force}{Area}$, so that if area of action of application of force is large the force gets distributed across that area, and we say that the pressure acting on it is less when compared to the same force acting on a smaller area.

The figure having the least area touching the table will have the largest pressure.

Here, the constant force is the weight which is $mg$. But, the area of each face is different.
Option A has an area of $8\times 12=96c{m}^2$,
option B has $12\times 6=72c{m}^2$ and
option C has $8\times 6=48c{m}^2$.
So the answer is C.