MA22-04 Maths Coming soon
Pressure: force, area and recognising when to use it
MA22-04
This lesson is coming soon.
In this lesson
Use pressure = force / area, always identifying and calculating the correct area for the shape given rather than a length or perimeter.
What it covers
- Build pressure = force / area directly from the unit meaning (newtons per square metre)
- Always calculate the AREA that the force acts over, whatever the shape (rectangle, circle, etc.), never its perimeter or a bare length
- Recognise the specific trap of computing perimeter or 'length + width' when the question requires pressure
- Briefly handle a given imperial-to-metric conversion factor within a pressure calculation when the question supplies one
Key words
For: Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1, AQA GCSE 8300, Edexcel GCSE 1MA1, Eduqas GCSE C300, OCR GCSE J560, Cambridge IGCSE 0580
On the specification
| Board | Spec | Statement |
|---|---|---|
| Edexcel IGCSE 4MA1 | F4.4G | Use compound measure such as speed, density and pressure |
| AQA GCSE 8300 | N13 | Use standard units of mass, length, time, money and other measures (including standard compound measures) using decimal quantities where appropriate |
| AQA GCSE 8300 | R11 | Use compound units such as speed, rates of pay, unit pricing |
| Edexcel GCSE 1MA1 | N13 | Use standard units of mass, length, time, money and other measures (including standard compound measures) using decimal quantities where appropriate |
| Edexcel GCSE 1MA1 | R11 | Use compound units such as speed, rates of pay, unit pricing, density and pressure |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | FN13 | Use standard units of mass, length, time, money and other measures (including standard compound measures) using decimal quantities where appropriate |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | HN13 | Use standard units of mass, length, time, money and other measures (including standard compound measures) using decimal quantities where appropriate |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | FR12 | Use compound units such as speed, rates of pay, unit pricing, density and pressure |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | FR2 | Understand the concept of density and be able to use the relationship between density, mass and volume; understand the concept of pressure and be able to use the relationship between pressure, force and area |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | HR12 | Use compound units such as speed, rates of pay, unit pricing, density and pressure |
| Eduqas GCSE C300 | HR2 | Understand the concept of density and be able to use the relationship between density, mass and volume; understand the concept of pressure and be able to use the relationship between pressure, force and area |
| OCR GCSE J560 | 10.01b | Use and convert simple compound units (e.g. for speed, rates of pay, unit pricing). Know and apply in simple cases: speed = distance ÷ time |
| Cambridge IGCSE 0580 | C1.12 | Use common measures of rate. |
| Cambridge IGCSE 0580 | E1.12 | Use common measures of rate. |
For teachers
This GCSE Maths lesson teaches pressure: force, area and recognising when to use it. By the end, students should be able to use pressure = force / area, always identifying and calculating the correct area for the shape given rather than a length or perimeter. It works through two worked examples and the mistakes examiners report.