The mass of an elephant can be many thousands of kilograms and their feet can be over a meter around. If a 6000 kg elephant is standing and its feet each have a circumference of 1.34 m, how much pressure in pascals does one foot exert on the ground? The pressure, for those who may be unaware, is the total force exerted divided by the area over which the force is exerted, i.e. p=F/A.

Question

festinger · Answer

Find radius of each feet using the circumference, then use that value to find area.

Next find the weight, which is 6000kg*9.8. Assuming the elephant has 4 legs, you diving this value by 4, and then find divide this value by the area.

The answer should be 103000Pa.