Force vs. Pressure — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 31, 2024
Force is a physical quantity that causes an object to move or change its velocity, while pressure is the force applied per unit area.
Difference Between Force and Pressure
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Force, measured in Newtons (N), is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. It can cause an object to start moving, stop moving, or change its direction. Examples include pushing a door to open it or pulling a rope. Pressure, on the other hand, is a scalar quantity measured in Pascals (Pa) or pounds per square inch (psi) in the Imperial system. It describes how much force is applied over a specific area, such as the pressure of air in tires or the pressure exerted by a standing person on the ground.
While force acts on objects to induce or change motion, pressure explains how distributed that force is over an area. For instance, the same force applied with a sharp needle exerts higher pressure than when applied with a blunt object because the area over which the force is spread is much smaller with the needle.
In applications, understanding the difference between force and pressure is crucial. Engineers and scientists calculate the force needed to achieve a specific motion, while pressure is key in designing structures to withstand external forces, like in bridges or aircraft. Additionally, in fluid dynamics, pressure differences explain fluid flow and are critical in areas such as aerodynamics and hydraulics.
Both concepts are foundational in physics and engineering, demonstrating the relationship between the forces acting on bodies and the effects those forces have when applied over different areas.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A push or pull on an object
Force applied per unit area
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Measured In
Newtons (N)
Pascals (Pa) or pounds per square inch (psi)
Nature
Vector (has magnitude and direction)
Scalar (has magnitude only)
Effect
Causes motion or changes in motion
Describes the intensity of force over an area
Examples
Pushing a car, pulling a rope
Air pressure, hydraulic pressure
Compare with Definitions
Force
Causes objects to move or stop.
Applying force to a ball makes it roll.
Pressure
Higher in smaller areas for the same force.
A sharp knife cuts through material easier than a dull one due to higher pressure.
Force
Measured in Newtons.
A force of 10 N pushes a book across the table.
Pressure
Describes how force is distributed over an area.
Standing in snowshoes distributes your weight to lower the pressure on the snow.
Force
Can be exerted in different directions.
Forces can pull up or push down, affecting the object's motion.
Pressure
Crucial in fluid mechanics.
Water flows from high to low-pressure areas, fundamental in plumbing and irrigation systems.
Force
In physics, a force is any influence that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (which includes to begin moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate.
Pressure
Pressure (symbol: p or P) is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled gage pressure) is the pressure relative to the ambient pressure.
Force
Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement
He was thrown backwards by the force of the explosion
Pressure
Continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it
The gate was buckling under the pressure of the crowd outside
Force
Coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence
They ruled by law and not by force
Pressure
The use of persuasion or intimidation to make someone do something
Backbenchers put pressure on the government to provide safeguards
The many pressures on girls to worry about their looks
Force
Mental or moral strength or power
The force of popular opinion
Pressure
Attempt to persuade or coerce (someone) into doing something
It might be possible to pressure him into resigning
She pressured her son to accept a job offer from the bank
Force
An organized body of military personnel or police
A British peacekeeping force
Pressure
The act of pressing.
Force
A waterfall.
Pressure
The condition of being pressed.
Force
Make a way through or into by physical strength; break open by force
The back door of the bank was forced
Pressure
The application of continuous force by one body on another that it is touching; compression.
Force
Make (someone) do something against their will
The universities were forced to cut staff
She was forced into early retirement
Pressure
Abbr. P(Physics)Force applied over a surface, measured as force per unit area.
Force
The capacity to do work or cause physical change; energy, strength, or active power
The force of an explosion.
Pressure
(Meteorology) Atmospheric pressure.
Force
Power made operative against resistance; exertion
Use force in driving a nail.
Pressure
A compelling or constraining influence, such as persuasion or negative attitudes, on the mind or will
Felt pressure to conform.
Peer-group pressure.
Force
The use of physical power or violence to compel or restrain
A confession obtained by force.
Pressure
An influence acting as a source of distress or hardship
Economic pressures forcing people to work two jobs.
Force
Intellectual power or vigor, especially as conveyed in writing or speech.
Pressure
(Sports) Sustained, effective play that puts an opponent at a disadvantage
Defensive pressure forced the quarterback to throw interceptions.
Force
Moral strength.
Pressure
The condition of being subjected to physical, mental, social, or economic distress
Doesn't work well under pressure.
Force
A capacity for affecting the mind or behavior; efficacy
The force of logical argumentation.
Pressure
A physical sensation produced by compression of a part of the body.
Force
One that possesses such capacity
The forces of evil.
Pressure
(Archaic) A mark made by application of force or weight; an impression.
Force
A body of persons or other resources organized or available for a certain purpose
A large labor force.
Pressure
To force or try to force, as by influence or persuasion
The salesman pressured us to buy the car right away.
Force
A person or group capable of influential action
A retired senator who is still a force in national politics.
Pressure
To pressurize.
Force
Military strength.
Pressure
To pressure-cook.
Force
A unit of a nation's military personnel, especially one deployed into combat
Our armed forces have at last engaged the enemy.
Pressure
A pressing; a force applied to a surface.
Apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.
Force
A vector quantity indicating the strength and direction of the capacity to accelerate a body. Newton's second law of motion states that a free body accelerates in the direction of the net force and that its acceleration is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to its mass.
Pressure
A contrasting force or impulse of any kind
The pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization.
Force
See fundamental force.
Pressure
Distress.
She has felt pressure lately because her boss expects her to get the job done by the first.
Force
(Baseball) A force play.
Pressure
Urgency
The pressure of business
Force
To compel through pressure or necessity
I forced myself to practice daily. He was forced to take a second job.
Pressure
(obsolete) Impression; stamp; character impressed.
Force
To gain by the use of force or coercion
Force a confession.
Pressure
(physics) The amount of force that is applied over a given area divided by the size of this area; force per unit area.
Force
To move or effect against resistance or inertia
Forced my foot into the shoe.
Pressure
(transitive) To encourage or heavily exert force or influence.
Do not let anyone pressure you into buying something you do not want.
Force
To inflict or impose relentlessly
He forced his ideas upon the group.
Pressure
The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.
Force
To put undue strain on
She forced her voice despite being hoarse.
Pressure
A contrasting force or impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization.
Where the pressure of danger was not felt.
Force
To increase or accelerate (a pace, for example) to the maximum.
Pressure
Affliction; distress; grievance.
My people's pressures are grievous.
In the midst of his great troubles and pressures.
Force
To produce with effort and against one's will
Force a laugh in spite of pain.
Pressure
Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
Force
To use (language) with obvious lack of ease and naturalness.
Pressure
Impression; stamp; character impressed.
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past.
Force
To move, open, or clear by force
Forced our way through the crowd.
Pressure
The action of a force against some obstacle or opposing force; a force in the nature of a thrust, distributed over a surface, often estimated with reference to the amount upon a unit's area.
Force
To break down or open by force
Force a lock.
Pressure
Electro-motive force.
Force
To rape.
Pressure
The force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit);
The compressed gas exerts an increased pressure
Force
To induce change in (a complex system) by changing one of its parameters
Greenhouse gases that force the earth's climate.
Pressure
A force that compels;
The public brought pressure to bear on the government
Force
(Botany) To cause to grow or mature by artificially accelerating normal processes.
Pressure
The act of pressing; the exertion of pressure;
He gave the button a press
He used pressure to stop the bleeding
At the pressing of a button
Force
To put (a runner) out on a force play.
Pressure
The state of urgently demanding notice or attention;
The press of business matters
Force
To allow (a run) to be scored by walking a batter when the bases are loaded.
Pressure
The somatic sensation of pressure;
The sensitivity of his skin to pressure and temperature was normal
Force
(Games) To cause an opponent to play (a particular card).
Pressure
An oppressive condition of physical or mental or social or economic distress
Force
Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigour; might; capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect.
The force of an appeal, an argument, or a contract
Pressure
To cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :
She forced him to take a job in the city
He squeezed her for information
Force
Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion.
Pressure
Exert pressure on someone through threats
Force
(countable) Anything that is able to make a substantial change in a person or thing.
Force
A physical quantity that denotes ability to push, pull, twist or accelerate a body and which has a direction and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance/time² (ML/T²): SI: newton (N); CGS: dyne (dyn)
Force
Something or anything that has the power to produce a physical effect upon something else, such as causing it to move or change shape.
Force
(countable) A group that aims to attack, control, or constrain.
Reinforcemented increased the American force in the area to 9,000
Police force
Force
(uncountable) The ability to attack, control, or constrain.
Show of force
Force
(countable) A magic trick in which the outcome is known to the magician beforehand, especially one involving the apparent free choice of a card by another person.
Force
(legal) Legal validity.
The law will come into force in January.
Force
(legal) Either unlawful violence, as in a "forced entry", or lawful compulsion.
Force
Ability of an utterance or its element (word, form, prosody, ...) to effect a given meaning.
Force
|often|capitalized}}Star Wars A metaphysical and ubiquitous power from the fictional Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. See usage note.
Force
Synonym of police force
Force
A waterfall or cascade.
Force
(transitive) To violate (a woman); to rape.
Force
To exert oneself, to do one's utmost.
Force
(transitive) To compel (someone or something) to do something.
Force
(transitive) To constrain by force; to overcome the limitations or resistance of.
Force
(transitive) To drive (something) by force, to propel (generally + prepositional phrase or adverb).
Force
(transitive) To cause to occur (despite inertia, resistance etc.); to produce through force.
The comedian's jokes weren't funny, but I forced a laugh now and then.
Force
(transitive) To forcibly open (a door, lock etc.).
To force a lock.
Force
To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress.
Force
To create an out by touching a base in advance of a runner who has no base to return to while in possession of a ball which has already touched the ground.
Jones forced the runner at second by stepping on the bag.
Force
(whist) To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit that he/she does not hold.
Force
(archaic) To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
Force
(archaic) To provide with forces; to reinforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
Force
(obsolete) To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
Force
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
Force
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
Wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit.
Force
To constrain to do or to forbear, by the exertion of a power not resistible; to compel by physical, moral, or intellectual means; to coerce; as, masters force slaves to labor.
Force
To compel, as by strength of evidence; as, to force conviction on the mind.
Force
To do violence to; to overpower, or to compel by violence to one's will; especially, to ravish; to violate; to commit rape upon.
To force their monarch and insult the court.
I should have forced thee soon wish other arms.
To force a spotless virgin's chastity.
Force
To obtain, overcome, or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress; as, to force the castle; to force a lock.
Force
To impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main strength or violence; - with a following adverb, as along, away, from, into, through, out, etc.
It stuck so fast, so deeply buried layThat scarce the victor forced the steel away.
To force the tyrant from his seat by war.
Ethelbert ordered that none should be forced into religion.
Force
To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
What can the church force more?
Force
To exert to the utmost; to urge; hence, to strain; to urge to excessive, unnatural, or untimely action; to produce by unnatural effort; as, to force a conceit or metaphor; to force a laugh; to force fruits.
High on a mounting wave my head I bore,Forcing my strength, and gathering to the shore.
Force
To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit of which he has none.
Force
To provide with forces; to reënforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
Force
To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
For me, I force not argument a straw.
Force
To use violence; to make violent effort; to strive; to endeavor.
Forcing with gifts to win his wanton heart.
Force
To make a difficult matter of anything; to labor; to hesitate; hence, to force of, to make much account of; to regard.
Your oath once broke, you force not to forswear.
I force not of such fooleries.
Force
To be of force, importance, or weight; to matter.
It is not sufficient to have attained the name and dignity of a shepherd, not forcing how.
Force
A waterfall; a cascade.
To see the falls for force of the river Kent.
Force
Capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect; strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigor; might; often, an unusual degree of strength or energy; especially, power to persuade, or convince, or impose obligation; pertinency; validity; special signification; as, the force of an appeal, an argument, a contract, or a term.
He was, in the full force of the words, a good man.
Force
Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion; as, by force of arms; to take by force.
Which now they hold by force, and not by right.
Force
Strength or power for war; hence, a body of land or naval combatants, with their appurtenances, ready for action; - an armament; troops; warlike array; - often in the plural; hence, a body of men prepared for action in other ways; as, the laboring force of a plantation; the armed forces.
Is Lucius general of the forces?
Force
Strength or power exercised without law, or contrary to law, upon persons or things; violence.
Force
Any action between two bodies which changes, or tends to change, their relative condition as to rest or motion; or, more generally, which changes, or tends to change, any physical relation between them, whether mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, magnetic, or of any other kind; as, the force of gravity; cohesive force; centrifugal force.
Thy tears are of no force to mollifyThis flinty man.
More huge in strength than wise in works he was.
Adam and first matron EveHad ended now their orisons, and foundStrength added from above, new hope to springOut of despair.
Force
A unit that is part of some military service;
He sent Caesar a force of six thousand men
Force
One possessing or exercising power or influence or authority;
The mysterious presence of an evil power
May the force be with you
The forces of evil
Force
(physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity;
Force equals mass times acceleration
Force
Group of people willing to obey orders;
A public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens
Force
A powerful effect or influence;
The force of his eloquence easily persuaded them
Force
An act of aggression (as one against a person who resists);
He may accomplish by craft in the long run what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one
Force
Physical energy or intensity;
He hit with all the force he could muster
It was destroyed by the strength of the gale
A government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man
Force
A group of people having the power of effective action;
He joined forces with a band of adventurers
Force
(of a law) having legal validity;
The law is still in effect
Force
To cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :
She forced him to take a job in the city
He squeezed her for information
Force
Urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
Force
Move with force,
He pushed the table into a corner
Force
Impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably;
She forced her diet fads on him
Force
Squeeze like a wedge into a tight space;
I squeezed myself into the corner
Force
Force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically;
She rammed her mind into focus
He drives me mad
Force
Do forcibly; exert force;
Don't force it!
Force
Cause to move along the ground by pulling;
Draw a wagon
Pull a sled
Force
Take by force;
Storm the fort
Common Curiosities
What is pressure?
Pressure is the force exerted per unit area on the surface of an object.
What is force?
Force is a physical influence that, when applied to an object, causes it to change its velocity or direction.
How do you calculate pressure?
Pressure is calculated as the force applied divided by the area over which the force is distributed (P = F/A).
How is pressure related to area?
Pressure is inversely related to area; for a given force, the smaller the area, the higher the pressure.
What role does pressure play in weather?
Pressure differences drive weather patterns, with high-pressure systems often leading to clear skies and low-pressure systems to storms.
Why does a sharp knife cut better than a blunt one?
A sharp knife exerts more pressure than a blunt one because the same force is applied over a smaller area, making the cut easier.
What units are used to measure force and pressure?
Force is measured in Newtons (N), and pressure is measured in Pascals (Pa) or pounds per square inch (psi).
Can force exist without pressure?
Yes, force can exist without creating pressure if it's not applied on a surface, such as gravitational force acting at a distance.
Is pressure always caused by physical contact?
While pressure often results from physical contact, it can also be exerted by forces at a distance, such as atmospheric pressure.
What's an example of pressure in everyday life?
Tire pressure is a common example, where the force of the air inside the tire is distributed over the tire's inner surface area.
How do engineers use the concepts of force and pressure?
Engineers use these concepts to design structures and machines, ensuring they can withstand the forces and pressures encountered during use.
What happens to pressure if the area is doubled while keeping the force constant?
If the area is doubled while the force remains constant, the pressure is halved.
Can the direction of force affect pressure?
The direction of force can affect how pressure is perceived or measured if it changes the area over which the force is applied.
How do force and pressure apply to hydraulics?
In hydraulics, a small force applied at a point generates a much larger force through fluid pressure, utilized in systems like hydraulic presses.
How does atmospheric pressure change with altitude?
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, as there is less air above exerting pressure down on higher altitudes.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
