Question

Sara and Saba are identical twins who are the same in every way, including their weights. One day, Sara and Saba decided to go for a walk in the snow. They got dressed, and then Saba put on her favorite red heels. Meanwhile, Sara, who had always been more practical, put on her snowshoes.

As soon as they stepped out onto the snow, Saba's heels sank right through while Sara had no trouble walking on top of the snow in her snowshoes!

Q1: Why do you think this happened? If Sara and Saba weigh the same and are exactly of the same size, why did Saba fall through the snow while Sara did not?

Q2: Calculate pressure under Sara’s snowshoes.

Q3: How is pressure useful in everyday life? Give an example.

Q4: State the factors affecting pressure.

Q5: How do snowshoes help a person to walk easily on soft snow?

Answer 1

Saba fell through the snow while Sara did not because of the difference in pressure exerted by their shoes. Sara's weight was spread out over a larger surface area, reducing the pressure, while Saba's weight was concentrated on a smaller surface area, resulting in higher pressure. Snowshoes help a person walk easily on soft snow by distributing their weight over a larger area, reducing the pressure exerted on the snow.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason that Saba fell through the snow while Sara did not is because of the difference in pressure exerted by their shoes. Pressure is defined as the force exerted per unit area, so even though Sara and Saba weigh the same, the area over which their weight is distributed is different. Sara's weight is spread out over the larger surface area of her snowshoes, reducing the pressure she exerts on the snow, while Saba's weight is concentrated on the smaller surface area of her heels, resulting in a higher pressure that causes her to sink through the snow.

To calculate the pressure under Sara's snowshoes, we would need to know the area of the snowshoes in contact with the snow. Without that information, we cannot provide a specific answer for this question.

Pressure is useful in everyday life in various ways. For example, in the context of sports, knowing the pressure inside a basketball or soccer ball can affect its performance. In medicine, blood pressure is an important indicator of a person's health. Understanding pressure is also essential for engineers in designing structures that can withstand different pressures, such as airplanes or submarines.

The factors affecting pressure include force and the area over which the force is applied. Pressure is directly proportional to force and inversely proportional to area. In other words, increasing the force or decreasing the area will result in higher pressure.

Snowshoes help a person walk easily on soft snow by distributing their weight over a larger area, reducing the pressure exerted on the snow. The larger surface area of the snowshoes prevents sinking by spreading out the force applied by walking, similar to how Sara's weight was distributed over the larger area of her snowshoes, allowing her to walk on top of the snow.