Answer to Question #38903 in Mechanics | Relativity for Hamza Afridi

Question

Is Pressure vector quantity or scalar quantity? Justify your answer?

Answer 1

It should be noted that pressure is force per unit area acting perpendicularly to the surface. This means that what we divide by area is not just the force but the dot product of the force and the unit vector perpendicular to the surface. This dot product is a scalar and hence pressure is actually a scalar. (A scalar divided by another scalar is a scalar)
Answer: scalar quantity