In most species of clingfish (family Gobiesocidae), pelvic and pectoral fins converge to form a suction cup edged by hairy structures that allow a good seal even on rough surfaces. Experiments have shown that a clingfish’s suction cup can support up to 230 times the fish’s body weight. Suppose a 30.0-g northern clingfish has a suction cup disk area of 15.0 cm2 and the ambient water pressure is 1.10 x 105 Pa. What ratio Pcup/Pambient of the pressure inside the suction cup to the ambient pressure allows the fish to support 230 times its body weight?
Fluid Pressure
The term fluid pressure is coined as, the measurement of the force per unit area of a given surface of a closed container. It is a branch of physics that helps to study the properties of fluid under various conditions of force.
Gauge Pressure
Pressure is the physical force acting per unit area on a body; the applied force is perpendicular to the surface of the object per unit area. The air around us at sea level exerts a pressure (atmospheric pressure) of about 14.7 psi but this doesn’t seem to bother anyone as the bodily fluids are constantly pushing outwards with the same force but if one swims down into the ocean a few feet below the surface one can notice the difference, there is increased pressure on the eardrum, this is due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure.
In most species of clingfish (family Gobiesocidae), pelvic and pectoral fins converge to form a suction cup edged by hairy structures that allow a good seal even on rough surfaces. Experiments have shown that a clingfish’s suction cup can support up to 230 times the fish’s body weight. Suppose a 30.0-g northern clingfish has a suction cup disk area of 15.0 cm2 and the ambient water pressure is 1.10 x 105 Pa. What ratio Pcup/Pambient of the pressure inside the suction cup to the ambient pressure allows the fish to support 230 times its body weight?
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