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Let\'s see how Pascal\'s law can be used to amplify a force. Suppose the hydraul

ID: 1504463 • Letter: L

Question

Let's see how Pascal's law can be used to amplify a force. Suppose the hydraulic lift shown in (Figure 1) has a small cylindrical piston with radius 5.0 cm and a larger piston with radius 20 cm. The mass of a car placed on the larger piston's platform is 1000 kg. (a) Assuming that the two pistons are at the same height, what force must be applied to the small piston to lift the car? (b) How far must the small piston move down to lift the car through a height of 0.10 m?

Engineers are designing a hydraulic lift that can be used to repair trucks with a mass of 6400 kg . What ratio of piston areas would you suggest for the design if the maximum available external force is to be 2600 N ? Express your answer to three significant figures.

Explanation / Answer

Here ,

radius , r1 = 5 cm

radius of outer , r2 = 20 cm

mass of car , M = 1000 Kg

a) let the force applied on the smaller piston is Fs

pressure at both pistons is same

M*g/(pi * r2^2) = Fs/(pi * r1^2)

1000 * 9.8/(pi * 20^2) = Fs/(pi * 5^2)

solving

Fs = 612.5 N

the force applied at the smaller piston is 612.5 N

b)

as the change in volume is same for both

pi * r1^2 * d1 = pi * r2^2 * h2

5^2 * d1 = 0.10 * 20^2

d1 = 1.6 m

the change in height of smaller piston is 1.6 m
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let the ratio of ares A2/A1

as the pressure is same for both pistons

6400 * 9.8/A2 = 2600/A1

A1/A2 = 0.0415

the ratio of areas of pistons is .0415