If P, F and A represent pressure, force and area respectively, then

Pressure is a scalar quantity — it has magnitude but no direction, unlike force, which is a vector quantity. By definition, pressure equals the magnitude of the force acting perpendicular to a surface divided by the area over which it acts, written as P = F/A — with no vector arrow on either P or F.

Among the four formulas offered, only one keeps both pressure and force as plain magnitudes, with no vector notation on either symbol, and area in the denominator — that is exactly how P = F/A must be written.

• A formula that places a vector arrow over pressure itself is wrong on its own terms: pressure is never assigned a direction, so it can never be written as a vector quantity.

• A formula that keeps pressure as a plain scalar but places a vector arrow over the force in the numerator is inconsistent: dividing a vector force by the scalar area still gives a vector, so that right-hand side can never equal the scalar pressure on the left.

So the only notationally consistent formula is P = F/A, with both pressure and force taken as magnitudes, not vectors.