Question

In a hydraulic system, piston 1 has a surface area of 100 cm2, and piston 2 has a surface area of 900 cm2. A force of 150 N is exerted on piston 1 of the hydraulic lift. What force will be exerted on piston 2?

Answer 1

From Pascal's law, we can say that the pressure exerted by piston 1 on the fluid will be transmitted with equal intensity to piston 2:
$p_1 = p_2$ (1)

The relationship between the pressure applied p, the force applied F and the surface A is
$p= \frac{F}{A}$

So we can rewrite (1) as
$\frac{F_1}{A_1}= \frac{F_2}{A_2}$
And from this, we can find the magnitude of the force exerted on piston 2, F2:
$F_2 = A_2 \frac{F_1}{A_1}=(900 cm^2) \frac{150 N}{100 cm^2}=1350 N$