Pressure exerted by 1 leg of a chair.

[bfusco]

Homework Statement

Estimate the pressure exerted on a floor by one pointed chair leg (64kg on all four legs) of area = 3.0×10−2 cm^2.

The Attempt at a Solution

first i found the weight of the chair (mg) to be 627.2 N, and the weight on 1 leg is 1/4th of that, so the weight on one leg is 156.8 N. then i convert .03x10^-2 cm^2 to m^2 by dividing by 10000 to get 3x10^-6. Since pressure is =F/A , i take 156.8/3x10^-6 to get 5.2x10^7 or 52,266,666 which i have a hard time believing is correct.

 

[OldEngr63]

Go back over your arithmetic. I think you have an error in what you have laid out here.

 

[bfusco]

Go back over your arithmetic. I think you have an error in what you have laid out here.

well i did see that i typed the given area of the bottom of the chair leg wrong while i was describing what i did thus far, but aside from that the conversion from cm^2 to m^2 seems correct to me (3x10^-2 → 3x10^-6). unless my method for coverting was done incorrectly.

 

[gneill]

Homework Statement

Estimate the pressure exerted on a floor by one pointed chair leg (64kg on all four legs) of area = 3.0×10−2 cm^2.

The Attempt at a Solution

first i found the weight of the chair (mg) to be 627.2 N, and the weight on 1 leg is 1/4th of that, so the weight on one leg is 156.8 N. then i convert .03x10^-2 cm^2 to m^2 by dividing by 10000 to get 3x10^-6. Since pressure is =F/A , i take 156.8/3x10^-6 to get 5.2x10^7 or 52,266,666 which i have a hard time believing is correct.

Your result looks okay; After all, these are rather sharp chair legs! With a cross sectional area of 3 x 10^-2 cm², if they're circular then their radius is about 1 mm. The hardwood floors would sure take a beating!