With what force does the air press on the palm of a hand with an area of 50 sq. cm at an atmospheric pressure of 760 mm Hg.

Given:

s = 50 square centimeters = 0.005 m2 – the surface area of ​​the palm of a human hand;

P = 760 millimeters of mercury – atmospheric pressure.

It is required to determine F (Newton) – with what force the atmosphere presses on the palm of a person’s hand.

Let’s convert pressure units to pascals:

P = 760 mmHg = 760 * 133.322 = 101325 Pascal (the result has been rounded to the nearest whole number).

Then, to determine the force of pressure, you must use the following formula:

F = P * s;

F = 101325 * 0.005 = 506.6 Newtons.

Answer: the atmosphere presses on the surface of the palm with a force equal to 506.6 Newtons (0.5 kN).