Question

A brick is kept in three different ways on a table as shown in the figure. The pressure exerted by the brick on the table will be maximum in position:

\( A \) B C

Answer 1

Pressure

1. Pressure is the force exerted on a unit area.
2. It is defined by the form, $P=\frac{F}{A}$, where P is the pressure, F and A are the Force and area of the material.

Explanation

1. In the figure given in the question, the gravitational force on each brick is the same, i.e, $F=mg$, where F is the force, m and g are the mass and acceleration due to gravity.
2. We know that pressure is inversely proportional to area, i.e, $P\propto \frac{1}{A}$. So, it is clear from the above figure that the brick containing the minimum area with the ground has a greater pressure.
3. In position A, the area in contact with the ground is lowest, so the pressure of position A is highest.

So, in position A the pressure exerted by the brick on the table will be maximum.