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ScienceForces and motion28 min★★★ difficulty

Pressure in fluids and on surfaces

The same force can crush or barely register. The difference is the area it acts over.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Physics: motion and forces: Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces

Key learning points

  • • Pressure on surfaces
  • • Pressure in liquids
  • • Atmospheric pressure

This lesson at a glance

  • 28 minutes
  • 14 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

pressurefluidsatmosphericsurfacesliquids

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Pressure in fluids and on surfaces

An English teaching video on this topic from MrE Science. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Pressure on surfaces

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Pressure on surfaces

Pressure = force ÷ area. A drawing pin works because a small force is concentrated on a tiny point; snowshoes work by spreading weight over a large area.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Pressure in liquids

Liquid pressure acts in all directions and increases with depth, because the weight of liquid above grows. That is why deep-sea animals face enormous pressure and dam walls are thicker at the bottom.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

Pressure is calculated as…

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

Why is pressure greater deeper in a lake?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Atmospheric pressure

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Atmospheric pressure

Air has weight, so the atmosphere presses on everything at roughly 100,000 pascals at sea level. It falls with altitude, which is why aircraft cabins are pressurised.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

Why do snowshoes stop you sinking?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ = force ÷ area.

13

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Pressure in fluids and on surfaces

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Pressure is calculated as…

  2. 2. Why is pressure greater deeper in a lake?

  3. 3. Why do snowshoes stop you sinking?

14

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Why the school greenhouse failed

A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.

The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.

The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
  2. Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
  3. Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.

  • Method and results

    Writing

    Write the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.

    1 page + results table

  • Conclusion

    Writing

    Explain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.

    6–8 sentences

  • Labelled diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.

    1 labelled diagram

  • Reading and notes

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.

    Half a page of notes

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

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    Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces

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