Pascal's Principle - Questions

The Pascal's Principle Concept Builder is comprised of 25 questions. The questions are divided into 9 different question groups and spread across three different activities. Questions in the same group are rather similar to one another. The Concept Builder is coded to select at random a question from each group until a student is successful with that group of questions.

The questions and question groups are organized into three different activities. The activities are differentiated as follows:

• Paragraph Completion  Question Group 1: Students complete a paragraph with 8 blanks using a word/phrase bank in order to communicate an understanding of Pascal's Principle and its applications to a hydraulic lift.
• The Hydraulic Lift  Question Groups 2-5: If given the areas of the two pistons of a hydraulic lift, students must determine the output force at one end when given the input force.
• Thinking Proportionally Question Groups 6-9: Students use Pascal’s Principal and proportional reasoning to predict the relative force on, pressure at, and displacement of a piston of a hydraulic lift when given the areas of the two pistons.

The questions from each group are shown below. Teachers are encouraged to view the questions in order to judge which activity is most appropriate for their classes. We recommend doing all three activities. 

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Activity 1: Paragraph Completion
Question Group 1
Question 1

Pascal’s principle states that _________________ pressure applied to a(n) ___________________ fluid is transmitted to _____________________________________. This principle forms the basis of a(n) ____________________ lift as shown. If a pressure of 1000 N/m² is applied to Piston A, then the pressure at Piston B would be _____________ N/m². If a downward force of F is exerted on Piston A, then the resulting upward force exerted by Piston B would be ___________. This illustrates the value of this device – the force is _________________ such that a force at A can lift a ____________________________________________.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activity 2: The Hydraulic Lift
Question Group 2
Question 2
A 200-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 200-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 3
A 400-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 400-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 4
A 500-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 500-Newton weight support?
   
 
 
 

 
Question Group 3
Question 5
A 200-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 200-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 6
A 400-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 400-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 7
A 500-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 500-Newton weight support?
   
 

 
Question Group 4
Question 8
A 200-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 200-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 9
A 400-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 400-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 10
A 500-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 500-Newton weight support?
   
 

 
Question Group 5
Question 11
A 200-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 200-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 12
A 400-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 400-Newton weight support?
   
 
Question 13
A 500-Newton weight is placed on top of piston A. How much weight, positioned at piston B, can this 500-Newton weight support?
   
 
 

 
Activity 3: Thinking Proportionally
Question Group 6
Question 14
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 10 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question 15
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 20 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 
 


Question 16
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 30 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 



 
Question Group 7
Question 17
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 5 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question 18
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 15 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question 19
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 25 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 



 
Question Group 8
Question 20
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 40 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question 21
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 50 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question 22
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 60 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 


 
Question Group 9
Question 23
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 80 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 



 
Question 24
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 100 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.
 



 
Question 25
A hydraulic lift is used to raise a car. The area of piston B is 120 times the area of piston A. A downward force of F_A is exerted on piston A resulting in a pressure of P_A. The fluid at piston A is displaced downward a distance of d_A. As a result there is an upward force of F_B on piston B, resulting in a pressure of P_B that raises the car upward a distance of d_B.
The value of F_B is ________________________________ F_A.
The value of P_B is ________________________________ P_A.
The value of d_B is ________________________________ d_A.