Question

Fountain pens leak at high altitude. Type 1 for true and 0 for false.

Answer 1

First of all we need to know the concept of fluid pressure for a better understanding of this problem. The pressure is measured by the force per unit area. Fluid pressure caused due to the acceleration, gravity force or other forces in a closed object.

Complete step by step answer:
When the fountain pen is filled with ink (fluid), the concept of pressure in fluids is applied. When the fountain pen is kept at normal sea level then the ink is filled at atmospheric pressure. On the other side, when the fountain pen is kept at higher altitude then pressure increases at high level.

Reason for the leakage of ink at high altitude:
As explained above, the pressure of the ink inside the tube of a fountain pen is atmospheric pressure which is high while the outside pressure is low. Due to pressure difference at high altitude, the air column exerts a pressure on the ink of the fountain pen. As a result, the ink in the tube is forced to move upwards. A certain situation arises when the atmospheric pressure (outside pressure) becomes as extreme that the ink in the fountain pen flows out of the pen or starts leaking. Hence, it is true that the fountain pen leaks at high altitude.

Therefore, the correct answer of this problem is 1.

Note: The fluid pressure applies in all directions as the fluid has no definite shape. The fluid pressure is measured by the relation, Pressure= Density of the fluid $\times$ Acceleration due to gravity $\times$ Height of the fluid. Mathematically, fluid pressure is expressed as: $P = \rho gh$