PRESSURE

Pressure is the ratio of force to the surface area over which it is exerted. Though solids exert pressure, the most interesting examples of pressure involve fluids—that is, gases and liquids—and in particular water and air. Pressure plays a number of important roles in daily life, among them its function in the operation of pumps and hydraulic presses. The maintenance of ordinary air pressure is essential to human health and well-being: the body is perfectly suited to the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, and if that pressure is altered significantly, a person may experience harmful or even fatal side-effects.