Question

A cube of mass 28 kg and side 27 cm is placed on a smooth, flat surface in a vacuum on a planet where the acceleration of gravity is 1.9 m/s². Calculate the pressure on the surface beneath the cube.

Answer 1

729.8 Pa

Step-by-step explanation:

Pressure = force ÷ area

First, we calculate the force exerted by the cube on the surface of the planet.

Force = mass × acceleration

F = 28 × 1.9

= 53.2

Next, we calculate the area covered by the cube.

Since only the base of the cube makes contact with the surface of the planet, we only need to calculate the area of one face of the cube.

Area of one face of a cube = Area of a square

Area of a square = side × side

27 cm = 0.27 m

Area = 0.27 × 0.327

= 0.0729

Now, we substitute the calculated values into the formula in order to calculate the pressure exerted by the cube.

Pressure = force area

Pressure = 53.2 0.0729

= 729.7668038

This can be rounded to 1 decimal as 729.8 Pa