Question

Pressure cookers have been around for more than 300 years, although their use has strongly declined in recent years (early models had a nasty habit of exploding). How much force (in N) must the latches holding the lid onto a pressure cooker be able to withstand if the circular lid is 22.0 cm in diameter and the gauge pressure inside is 3.20 atm? Neglect the weight of the lid.

Answer 1

First, let's convert the diameter to meters and the pressure to Pascal:

22 cm = 0.22 m

3.2 atm = 3.2 * 101325 Pa = 324240 Pa.

Now, let's find the area of the lid:

To find the force, let's use the pressure formula:

`\begin{gathered} P=(F)/(A)\\ \\ F=P\cdot A\\ \\ F=324240\cdot0.03801327\\ \\ F=12325.42\text{ N} \end{gathered}`