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Water pressure vs. area of an object

  1. Apr 9, 2006 #1
    I've been looking at this question for about 1 hour now, and cannot figure out the relationship between the distance an object is at the bottom of the ocean vs. its area... The question is:
    A solid copper ball with a diameter of 3.20 m at sea level is placed at the bottom of the ocean, at a depth of 7.0 km. If the density of the seawater is 1030 kg/m3, how much does the diameter of the ball decrease when it reaches bottom?

    I used the equation P=Po+pgh to solve for the pressure at the bottom of the ocean but cannot find a relation of initial pressure and initial are to final pressure and final area...
  2. jcsd
  3. Apr 10, 2006 #2


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    Homework Helper

    This problem is obviously about volume elasticity, don't they give you the bulk modulus? look for tables in your text book about bulk modulus of copper and its alloys.

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