Forces and Pressure in a Hydraulic System

[forestmine]

Homework Statement

The small piston of a hydraulic lift has a diameter of 8.0 cm, and its large piston has a diameter of 40 cm. The lift raises a load of 15,000 N.

(a) Determine the force that must be applied to the small piston.

(b) Determine the pressure applied to the fluid in the lift.

Homework Equations

p=F/A

The Attempt at a Solution

I correctly solved for part a, and came up with an answer of 600 N. I'm a little unclear about how to obtain the answer for part b. My thought was that since pressure = F/A, I could simply take the pressure I found from part a, and divide by the area of the smaller piston, but I'm not getting the correct answer...

Thanks in advance!

 

[obafgkmrns]

You're doing it correctly. Could the problem be one of units? Pressure is often stated in Newtons/meter^2 (i.e., pascals). Note that 8.0 cm = 0.08 m.

 

[forestmine]

EDIT// I must have been making a calculation error. I figured it out.

Thank you!