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There is a legend of a Dutch boy who bravely held back the whole Atlantic Ocean by plugging a hole in a dike with his finger. Is this possible and reasonable? Estimate the force if the hole were about 1.5 square centimeter in area and 1.8 meter below the water level.

Answers

Answered by drwls
Calculate the water pressure at that depth. It is only about 0.2 atmospheres above atmospheric pressure. The force that the finger would have apply is that times the hole area.
2*10^4 N/m^2 * 1.5*10^-4 m^2 = 3 newtons, which is less than one pound of force.

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