The pressure at the bottom of a glass filled with water (ρ = 1000 kg/m3) is P. The water is poured out and the glass is filled with mercury (ρ = 13.6 ✕ 103 kg/m3). The pressure at the bottom of the glass is now which of the following?

Question

a)equal to P
b)smaller than P
c)indeterminate
d)larger than P

Answer 1

pressure is weight per unit area

the area at the bottom of the glass does not change

however the mass of Hg is 13 times as much as that or the water

therefore the pressure will be 13 times as big as P

Hey, imagine the experiment !

Answer 2

C

Answer 3

commenter above missed a decimal place, the density of mercury (according to these terms) is about 1.3 times the density of water, not 13 times.

Answer 4

You are correct, thank you for pointing that out. The density of mercury is about 13.6 times higher than water, not 13 times. Therefore, the pressure at the bottom of the glass filled with mercury will be larger than the pressure when it was filled with water. The correct answer is (d) larger than P.