Hi all,

Can anyone here please help me understand how to convert weight into pressure? I have two mats filled with air both connected to indecent air pressure sensors. One mat has a surface area of 12”x 12” and the other mat has a surface of 24” x 24”. I won’t to apply a small AA battery which has a weight of 10grams to both mats. Even though one mat has a bigger surface area than the other, would the pressure exerted by the 10 gram weight me the same?

 

Please see picture to help understand where I am coming from: http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww191/avoinvents/weighttopressure.jpg

 

Thank you all in advance.

What is pressure?

 

The book that your teacher told you to read says: pressure is force / surface

 

[math]P = \frac{F}{A}[/math]

 

The unit of pressure is the Pascal, which is identical to 1 Newton per square meter:

 

[math]Pa = \frac{N}{m^2}[/math] - note that the formula and the dimensions (units) correspond perfectly - that's no coincidence at all.

 

You also know that force is weight multiplied by the (gravitational) acceleration... [math]F=m\cdot{a}[/math] or [math]F=m\cdot{g}[/math].

 

That should give you enough clues.