so if you push down on a scale and it says 15 pounds does that mean I apply 15 pounds of pressure or is it more complicated than that

Question

so if you push down on a scale and it says 15 pounds does that mean I apply 15 pounds of pressure or is it more complicated than that

In: Physics

Answer 1

Short answer is yes, you are applying 15 pounds of pressure, nothing more complicated than that.

Longer answer: To a physicist, a “pressure” would be a force per area. So you would measure that as pounds per square inch. So your question, to be more precisely phrased, would be:

“ELI5: so if you push down on a scale and it says 15 pounds does that mean I apply 15 pounds of FORCE or is it more complicated than that”

If your physicist was being pedantic, they would also say that “pound” most often refers to a mass, rather than a force, but not always. So they would further re-word your question to be:

“ELI5: so if you push down on a scale and it says 15 pounds does that mean I apply 15 pounds-FORCE of FORCE or is it more complicated than that”