Question

Which of the following object exerts the greatest pressure on the floor?
(All the given objects have the same mass)

• A. Figure A
• B. Figure B
• C. Figure C
• D. Figure D
  

Answer 1

The correct option is A Figure A

Since the mass of all the objects are equal, the force on the floor by all the figures is the same. But according to equation of pressure:
$Pressure=\frac{Force}{Area}$
This implies lesser the area, greater is the pressure. Figure A has the least area of contact as it is the vertex of a cone. Here, the contact area is only a point which is very less compared to the rest of the figures. Hence, the inverted cone will apply maximum pressure on the surface.