| Step | Derivation or Formula | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | \[A_{s} = 30\,\text{cm}^{2} = 30 \times 10^{-4}\,\text{m}^{2} = 0.003\,\text{m}^{2}\] | Convert the small piston area from square centimeters to square meters for consistency in SI units. |
| 2 | \[P = \frac{F_{s}}{A_{s}} = \frac{72\,\text{N}}{0.003\,\text{m}^{2}} = 24000\,\text{Pa}\] | Calculate the pressure applied on the small piston using Pascal’s principle. |
| 3 | \[A_{L} = \frac{F_{L}}{P} = \frac{20000\,\text{N}}{24000\,\text{Pa}} = \frac{5}{6}\,\text{m}^{2} \approx 0.833\,\text{m}^{2}\] | Determine the required area of the larger piston to hold the ride by applying the same pressure. |
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An air mattress pump blows air above a beach ball at \( 8 \) \( \text{m/s} \). The air below the beach ball is moving at \( \approx 0 \) \( \text{m/s} \). Assuming the beach ball diameter is \( 0.1 \) \( \text{m} \), meaning the areas for the top \& bottom are each \( \approx 0.03 \) \( \text{m}^2 \), and the density of air is \( 1 \) \( \text{kg/m}^3 \), what is the lift force on the beach ball?
A liquid flows at a constant flow rate through a pipe with circular cross-sections of varying diameters. At one point in the pipe, the diameter is \(2\) \(\text{cm}\) and the flow speed is \(18\) \(\text{m/s}\). What is the flow speed at another point in this pipe, where the diameter is \(3\) \(\text{cm}\).
Two points, \( A \) and \( B \), are in a pipe carrying a flowing ideal fluid. Point \( B \) is \( 2.0 \) \( \text{m} \) higher than point \( A \), and the fluid speed at \( B \) is twice the speed at \( A \). If the pressure at \( A \) is \( P_A \), which of the following expressions correctly represents the pressure at \( B \) \( (P_B) \)?

The figure above shows a portion of a conduit for water, one with rectangular cross sections. If the flow speed at the top is \( v \), what is the flow speed at the bottom?
Rex, an auto mechanic, is raising a \( 1200 \) \( \text{kg} \) car on his hydraulic lift so that he can work underneath. If the area of the input piston is \( 12.0 \) \( \text{cm}^2 \), while the output piston has an area of \( 700 \) \( \text{cm}^2 \), what force must be exerted on the input piston to lift the car?
A cube of side length \( s \) rests on the bottom surface of a container of fluid. The fluid is at a height \( y \) above the bottom of the tank. The fluid has density \( \rho \) and the atmospheric pressure is \( P_{\text{atm}} \).
Which of the following expressions is equal to the absolute pressure exerted by the fluid on the top surface of the cube?
A spherical balloon has a radius of \(7.15\) \(\text{m}\) and is filled with helium. How large a cargo can it lift, assuming that the skin and structure of the balloon have a mass of \(930\) \(\text{kg}\)?
Take the density of helium and air to be \(0.18\) \(\text{kg/m}^3\) and \(1.24\) \(\text{kg/m}^3\), respectively.

Alcohol has a specific gravity of \( 0.79 \). If a barometer consisting of an open-ended tube placed in a dish of alcohol is used at sea level, to what height in the tube will the alcohol rise?
A sphere of mass \(0.5\) \(\text{kg}\) is dropped into a column of oil. At the instant the sphere becomes completely submerged in the oil, the sphere is moving downward at \(8\) \(\text{m/s}\), the buoyancy force on the sphere is \(4.0\) \(\text{N}\), and the fluid frictional force is \(4.0\) \(\text{N}\). Which of the following describes the motion of the sphere at this instant?
Two paper cups are suspended by strings and hung near each other. They are separated by about \( 10 \) \( \text{cm} \). Explain what happens to the cups when you blow air between them. Hint: Do they remain still, moves away from each other or move towards each other?
\(0.833\,\text{m}^{2}\)
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| Kinematics | Forces |
|---|---|
| \(\Delta x = v_i t + \frac{1}{2} at^2\) | \(F = ma\) |
| \(v = v_i + at\) | \(F_g = \frac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2}\) |
| \(v^2 = v_i^2 + 2a \Delta x\) | \(f = \mu N\) |
| \(\Delta x = \frac{v_i + v}{2} t\) | \(F_s =-kx\) |
| \(v^2 = v_f^2 \,-\, 2a \Delta x\) |
| Circular Motion | Energy |
|---|---|
| \(F_c = \frac{mv^2}{r}\) | \(KE = \frac{1}{2} mv^2\) |
| \(a_c = \frac{v^2}{r}\) | \(PE = mgh\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{r}{g}}\) | \(KE_i + PE_i = KE_f + PE_f\) |
| \(W = Fd \cos\theta\) |
| Momentum | Torque and Rotations |
|---|---|
| \(p = mv\) | \(\tau = r \cdot F \cdot \sin(\theta)\) |
| \(J = \Delta p\) | \(I = \sum mr^2\) |
| \(p_i = p_f\) | \(L = I \cdot \omega\) |
| Simple Harmonic Motion | Fluids |
|---|---|
| \(F = -kx\) | \(P = \frac{F}{A}\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{l}{g}}\) | \(P_{\text{total}} = P_{\text{atm}} + \rho gh\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{m}{k}}\) | \(Q = Av\) |
| \(x(t) = A \cos(\omega t + \phi)\) | \(F_b = \rho V g\) |
| \(a = -\omega^2 x\) | \(A_1v_1 = A_2v_2\) |
| Constant | Description |
|---|---|
| [katex]g[/katex] | Acceleration due to gravity, typically [katex]9.8 , \text{m/s}^2[/katex] on Earth’s surface |
| [katex]G[/katex] | Universal Gravitational Constant, [katex]6.674 \times 10^{-11} , \text{N} \cdot \text{m}^2/\text{kg}^2[/katex] |
| [katex]\mu_k[/katex] and [katex]\mu_s[/katex] | Coefficients of kinetic ([katex]\mu_k[/katex]) and static ([katex]\mu_s[/katex]) friction, dimensionless. Static friction ([katex]\mu_s[/katex]) is usually greater than kinetic friction ([katex]\mu_k[/katex]) as it resists the start of motion. |
| [katex]k[/katex] | Spring constant, in [katex]\text{N/m}[/katex] |
| [katex] M_E = 5.972 \times 10^{24} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Earth |
| [katex] M_M = 7.348 \times 10^{22} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Moon |
| [katex] M_M = 1.989 \times 10^{30} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Sun |
| Variable | SI Unit |
|---|---|
| [katex]s[/katex] (Displacement) | [katex]\text{meters (m)}[/katex] |
| [katex]v[/katex] (Velocity) | [katex]\text{meters per second (m/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]a[/katex] (Acceleration) | [katex]\text{meters per second squared (m/s}^2\text{)}[/katex] |
| [katex]t[/katex] (Time) | [katex]\text{seconds (s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]m[/katex] (Mass) | [katex]\text{kilograms (kg)}[/katex] |
| Variable | Derived SI Unit |
|---|---|
| [katex]F[/katex] (Force) | [katex]\text{newtons (N)}[/katex] |
| [katex]E[/katex], [katex]PE[/katex], [katex]KE[/katex] (Energy, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy) | [katex]\text{joules (J)}[/katex] |
| [katex]P[/katex] (Power) | [katex]\text{watts (W)}[/katex] |
| [katex]p[/katex] (Momentum) | [katex]\text{kilogram meters per second (kgm/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]\omega[/katex] (Angular Velocity) | [katex]\text{radians per second (rad/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]\tau[/katex] (Torque) | [katex]\text{newton meters (Nm)}[/katex] |
| [katex]I[/katex] (Moment of Inertia) | [katex]\text{kilogram meter squared (kgm}^2\text{)}[/katex] |
| [katex]f[/katex] (Frequency) | [katex]\text{hertz (Hz)}[/katex] |
Metric Prefixes
Example of using unit analysis: Convert 5 kilometers to millimeters.
Start with the given measurement: [katex]\text{5 km}[/katex]
Use the conversion factors for kilometers to meters and meters to millimeters: [katex]\text{5 km} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{m}}{1 \, \text{km}} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{mm}}{1 \, \text{m}}[/katex]
Perform the multiplication: [katex]\text{5 km} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{m}}{1 \, \text{km}} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{mm}}{1 \, \text{m}} = 5 \times 10^3 \times 10^3 \, \text{mm}[/katex]
Simplify to get the final answer: [katex]\boxed{5 \times 10^6 \, \text{mm}}[/katex]
Prefix | Symbol | Power of Ten | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
Pico- | p | [katex]10^{-12}[/katex] | 0.000000000001 |
Nano- | n | [katex]10^{-9}[/katex] | 0.000000001 |
Micro- | µ | [katex]10^{-6}[/katex] | 0.000001 |
Milli- | m | [katex]10^{-3}[/katex] | 0.001 |
Centi- | c | [katex]10^{-2}[/katex] | 0.01 |
Deci- | d | [katex]10^{-1}[/katex] | 0.1 |
(Base unit) | – | [katex]10^{0}[/katex] | 1 |
Deca- or Deka- | da | [katex]10^{1}[/katex] | 10 |
Hecto- | h | [katex]10^{2}[/katex] | 100 |
Kilo- | k | [katex]10^{3}[/katex] | 1,000 |
Mega- | M | [katex]10^{6}[/katex] | 1,000,000 |
Giga- | G | [katex]10^{9}[/katex] | 1,000,000,000 |
Tera- | T | [katex]10^{12}[/katex] | 1,000,000,000,000 |
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