EXPERIMENT 3

CENTER OF PRESSURE ON A SUBMERGED

PLANE SURFACE
Submerged surfaces are found in many
engineering applications. Dams, weirs and water
gates are familiar examples of submerged plane
surfaces. It is important to have a working
knowledge of the forces that act on submerged
surfaces.
A plane surface located beneath the surface
of a liquid is subjected to a pressure due to the
height of liquid above it, as shown in Figure 3.1.
Pressure increases linearly with increasing depth
resulting in a pressure distribution that acts on
the submerged surface. The analysis of this
situation involves determining a force which is
equivalent to the pressure, and finding the line of
action of this force.

free to rotate (within limits) about a pivot point.

The torus has inside and outside radii, Ri and Ro
respectively, and it is constructed such that the
center of these radii is at the pivot point of the
lever arm. The torus is now submerged in a liquid,
and there will exist an unbalanced force F that is
exerted on the plane of dimensions h x w. In order
to bring the torus and lever arm back to their
balanced position, a weight Wmust be added to
the weight hanger. The force and its line of
action can be found with Equations 3.1 and 3.2.
Consider next the apparatus sketched in
Figure 3.2b. It is quite similar to that in Figure
3.2a, in that it consists of a torus attached to a
lever arm. In this case, however, the torus is
hollow, and can be filled with liquid. If the
depth of the liquid is equal to that in Figure 3.2a,
(as measured from the bottom of the torus), then
the forces in both cases will be equal in magnitude
but opposite in direction. Moreover, the distance
from the free surface of the liquid to the line of
action of both forces will also be equal. Thus,
there is an equivalence between the two devices.

yF

Center of Pressure Measurement

FIGURE 3.1. Pressure distribution on a submerged
plane surface and the equivalent force.

Equipment
Center of Pressure Apparatus
(Figure 3.2b)
Weights

For this case, it can be shown that the

equivalent force is:
F = gycA

The torus and balance arm are located on a pivot

rod. Note that the pivot point for the balance
arm is the point of contact between the rod and
the torus. Place the weight hanger on the
apparatus, and add water into the trim tank (not
shown in the figure) to bring the submerged plane
back to the vertical position.
Start by adding 20 g to the weight hanger.
Then pour water into the torus until the
submerged plan is brought back to the vertical
position. Record the weight and the liquid
depth. Repeat this procedure for 4 more weights.
(Remember to record the distance from the pivot
point to the free surface for each case.)
From the depth measurement, the equivalent
force and its location are calculated using
Equations 3.1 and 3.2. Summing moments about the
pivot allows for a comparison between the
theoretical and actual force exerted. Referring to
Figure 3.2b, we have

(3.1)

in which is the liquid density, yc is the distance

from the free surface of the liquid to the centroid
of the plane, and A is the area of the plane in
contact with liquid. Further, the location of this
force yF below the free surface is
yF =

Ix x
+ yc
y cA

(3.2)

in which Ixx is the second area moment of the

plane about its centroid. The experimental
verification of these equations for force and
distance is the subject of this experiment.
Figure 3.2a is a sketch of an apparatus that
we use to illustrate the concepts behind this
experiment. The apparatus consists of one-fourth
of a torus, consisting of a solid piece of material.
The torus is attached to a lever arm, which is
20

F=

WL
(y + y F )

For the report, compare the force obtained

with Equation 3.1 to that obtained with Equation
3.3. When using Equation 3.3, it will be necessary
to use Equation 3.2 for yF.

(3.3)

where y is the distance from the pivot point to

the free surface, yF is the distance from the free
surface to the line of action of the force F, and L is
the distance from the pivot point to the line of
action of the weight W. Recalling that both
curved surfaces of the torus are circular with
centers at the pivot point, we see that the forces
acting on the curved surfaces have a zero moment
arm.

Questions
1. In summing moments, why isn't the buoyant
force taken into account in Figure 3.2a?
2. Why isnt the weight of the torus and the
balance arm taken into account?

torus

Ri

yF

Ro

weight
hanger

h
w

FIGURE 3.2a
L

Ri

weight
hanger

torus

yF

Ro

F
w

FIGURE 3.2b. A schematic of the center of pressure apparatus.

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