A one square inch column contains water to a height of 100 feet. What is the pressure in psi at the base of the column?

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Multiple Choice

A one square inch column contains water to a height of 100 feet. What is the pressure in psi at the base of the column?

Explanation:
The pressure at the base of a vertical water column comes from the weight of the water above per unit area. In English engineering units, that hydrostatic pressure is P = γ h, where γ is the water’s weight density. For water, γ is about 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. With a height of 100 feet, the pressure is 62.4 × 100 = 6,240 pounds per square foot. Converting to psi (1 psi = 1 lb per in^2), divide by 144 since 1 ft^2 = 144 in^2: 6,240 / 144 ≈ 43.3 psi, which rounds to 43.4 psi. So the base pressure is about 43.4 psi. The other options would correspond to notably different heights of water.

The pressure at the base of a vertical water column comes from the weight of the water above per unit area. In English engineering units, that hydrostatic pressure is P = γ h, where γ is the water’s weight density. For water, γ is about 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. With a height of 100 feet, the pressure is 62.4 × 100 = 6,240 pounds per square foot. Converting to psi (1 psi = 1 lb per in^2), divide by 144 since 1 ft^2 = 144 in^2: 6,240 / 144 ≈ 43.3 psi, which rounds to 43.4 psi. So the base pressure is about 43.4 psi. The other options would correspond to notably different heights of water.

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