A piston with a 25 cm by 25 cm face at 3000 psi produces approximately how much force?

• A. 150,000 lbs
• B. 300,000 lbs
• C. 450,000 lbs
• D. 600,000 lbs

Answer: (B)

The force produced by a piston is found by multiplying the pressure by the piston area. Since the pressure is given in pounds per square inch (psi), convert the piston’s face from centimeters to square inches to get the area in square inches.

Convert the side length: 25 cm to inches is 25 / 2.54 ≈ 9.8425 inches. The face is square, so its area is side × side ≈ 9.8425 × 9.8425 ≈ 96.9 square inches.

Multiply by the pressure: 96.9 in^2 × 3,000 psi ≈ 290,700 pounds of force, which is about 300,000 pounds.

So the pressure acting on that face produces roughly 3.0 × 10^5 pounds of force.