The pressure exerted by a liquid at a point inside it does not depend upon
- A.The depth of the point below the surface
- B.The density of the liquid
- C.The shape and area of the base of the vessel
- D.The acceleration due to gravity
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, the shape and area of the base of the vessel. The pressure at a point inside a liquid equals the depth multiplied by the density of the liquid and by the acceleration due to gravity. Nothing in that expression refers to the shape of the container, so a narrow tube and a wide tank filled to the same level show the same pressure at the same depth, a result demonstrated by the classic hydrostatic paradox.
Option A is wrong as an answer because pressure does rise with depth, which is why a dam is built thicker at the bottom and why a diver feels increasing pressure on descending. Option B is wrong because a denser liquid such as mercury gives a far greater pressure than water at the same depth. Option D is wrong because the term g appears directly in the formula, so the same column of liquid would exert less pressure on the moon. The question asks for the factor that does not matter, so read the wording carefully.
Read the full article: Gravitation and Pressure: Laws, Formulas and Facts
Practice Questions
View allWhat is the SI unit of pressure?
- A.Newton
- B.Pascal
- C.Joule
- D.Watt
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Pressure is thrust per unit area, so its unit is one newton per square metre, and this unit is named the pascal after Blaise Pascal.
Read the full explanation →The value of acceleration due to gravity on the earth is maximum at which of the following?
- A.The equator
- B.The poles
- C.The centre of the earth
- D.The top of Mount Everest
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The earth is flattened at the poles, so the distance from the centre is least there, and since g varies inversely as the square of that distance, g is largest at the poles.
Read the full explanation →The escape velocity from the surface of the earth is approximately
- A.7.9 kilometres per second
- B.9.8 kilometres per second
- C.11.2 kilometres per second
- D.24 kilometres per second
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Escape velocity is the minimum speed a body must be given so that it leaves the gravitational pull of the planet and never returns.
Read the full explanation →Hydraulic brakes used in automobiles work on which principle?
- A.Archimedes' principle
- B.Pascal's law
- C.Bernoulli's principle
- D.Newton's law of gravitation
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Pascal's law states that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished in every direction to all parts of the fluid and to the walls of the container.
Read the full explanation →The upward force experienced by a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by it. This statement is known as
- A.Pascal's law
- B.Archimedes' principle
- C.Hooke's law
- D.Boyle's law
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It states that a body immersed wholly or partly in a fluid experiences an upward buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced, so the apparent loss in weight of the body equals the weight of the displaced fluid.
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