Exercises
A 50 kg girl wearing high heel shoes balances on a single heel. The heel is circular with a diameter 1.0 cm. What is the pressure exerted by the heel on the horizontal floor?
Given: mass m = 50 kg, heel diameter d = 1.0 cm = 1.0 × 10⁻² m, g = 9.8 m s⁻²
Area of circular heel:
A = π (d/2)² = π × (0.5 × 10⁻²)² = π × 0.25 × 10⁻⁴ m²
A = 7.854 × 10⁻⁵ m²
Force exerted by heel = weight of girl:
F = mg = 50 × 9.8 = 490 N
Pressure:
P = F/A = 490 / (7.854 × 10⁻⁵)
P = 6.24 × 10⁶ Pa
Answer: P ≈ 6.24 × 10⁶ Pa
