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Grade upto college level Mechanics

A woman can stand in running shoes or stiletto high heels on a level surface. Assuming her total mass is the same regardless of the shoes she wears, then the normal force on her shoes by the ground is
(A) greater in the case of the running shoes, because of the larger area of contact with the ground.
(B) the same for either pair of shoes.
(C) greater for the stiletto heels, because of the smaller area of contact with the ground.
(D) solely dependent on whether she is standing with her knees bent.

Profile image of Amit Saxena
11 Years agoGrade upto college level
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1 Answer

Profile image of Navjyot Kalra
11 Years ago
The correct option is:
(c) greater for the stiletto heels, because of the smaller area of contact with the ground.
When the woman is standing in running shoes, her entire weight is distributed in the larger area available from the contact between the running shoes and the ground. Therefore the magnitude of the normal reaction from the ground is significantly less, but is applied on her entire feet.
In case the woman stands in stiletto high heels, her entire weight is distributed to smaller area available from the contact between the heels and the ground. Therefore the magnitude of normal reaction from the ground is significantly larger and is applied non-uniformly on her feet.
Therefore (c) is the correct option while the rest are ruled out.