system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why does a sphere, which only has a single point of contact to the ground, not produce the same amount of downward pressure as a needle of the same weight?

A needle and a (nearly perfect) sphere technically have the same amount of area in contact with the ground. So with all other things being equal, why is it that a sphere does pierce through material when placed on top while a needle will?
gpt
It would if the material the sphere was placed upon was perfectly rigid.  In the real world, the material is not perfectly rigid, and deforms at least somewhat so that more and more of the sphere's surface makes contact with the material.  This is also happening with a needle, but there's just not enough surface area at the tip of a needle to spread out the weight at the material deforms, so it breaks through anyway.