force per unit area
What force per unit area means in Physics GCSE, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of force per unit area
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Reference: AQA
The total force of the collisions shared over the wall area, which falls when the force is spread over a larger surface area.
The steady force spread over the area of a surface, which is what pressure means.
Pressure is the force divided by the area it acts on.
Topics that use force per unit area
- Atmospheric pressure (AQA GCSE)
- Pressure in gases (physics only) (AQA GCSE)
Related terms
- collision frequency
- altitude
- average density
- column of air
- comparing heights
- compression and expansion
- compression by the air above
- consistent units
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