The aeroplane is high above the Earth’s surface - Edexcel - GCSE Physics - Question 10 - 2023 - Paper 2

Using the formula for pressure:

We can rearrange this to find force:

Substituting the known values:

Therefore, the size of the force on the window is 7,520 N.

The force exerted by air pressure on a surface is directly proportional to the area of that surface. For the larger window, the force calculated earlier is based on its surface area. In contrast, for the smaller window, the same air pressure applies, but since the area is smaller, the force will be less. Hence, the force on the smaller window will be smaller than that on the larger window, assuming the pressures remain constant.

The arrow should be drawn pointing towards the window, indicating the direction of the resultant force due to the higher air pressure inside the cabin compared to the atmospheric pressure outside.

As height above the Earth's surface increases, atmospheric pressure decreases. This is because the density of air decreases with altitude, resulting in fewer air molecules exerting pressure. Data from Figure 24 shows a clear decrease in pressure values with increasing height, illustrating this trend.

One reason atmospheric pressure decreases with height is that the weight of the air above a given point decreases. As you go higher in the atmosphere, there is less air above to exert pressure, resulting in lower atmospheric pressure.