Pressure Calculation: Mom's Knife and the Cheese

What is the pressure of the knife blade into the cheese?

Mom cuts the cheese by pressing the knife with a force of 50N. If the blade is 12 cm long and 0.2 mm wide, what is the pressure of the knife blade into the cheese?

Answer:

The pressure exerted by the knife on the cheese can be calculated using the formula: Pressure = Force / Area. Given: Force (F) = 50N, Blade Length (L) = 12 cm, Blade Width (W) = 0.2 mm.

To calculate the pressure, we need to convert the dimensions into meters: 12 cm = 0.12 m and 0.2 mm = 0.0002 m.

Now, we can calculate the area (A) of the blade in contact with the cheese: A = Length x Width = 0.12 m x 0.0002 m = 0.000024 m².

Plugging the values into the formula: Pressure = 50N / 0.000024 m² = 2,083,333 Pascal (Pa), which is approximately 2.1 x 10^6 Nm^-².

Therefore, the pressure exerted by the knife on the cheese is approximately 2.1 megapascals (MPa).