Question

Consider a vertical piston/cylinder system. The piston has a mass of 35 kg and has an unknown radius. There is a pressure gauge to output the pressure inside the cylinder. If the piston is compressed and the pressure gauge reads 300 kPa. What is the area of the piston

Answer 1

Area of the piston = 1.143 * 10^-3 m^2

Step-by-step explanation:

Here, we are tasked with calculating the area of the piston.

Mathematically, the area of the piston =

Piston force/ cylinder pressure

From the question,

Piston force = mg where m is the mass of the piston = 35 kg and g is the acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s^2

Thus, piston force = 35 * 9.8 = 343 N

Now the pressure gauge reads 300 KPa and 1KPa = 300 * 10^3 Pa = 300000 Pa

Thus, the area of the piston = 343/300000 =

0.001143333333 m^2 which is simply 1.143 * 10^-3 m^2