Chapter 3

Fluid Static

Contents

Pressure
Pascals Law
Variation of Pressure with Depth
Application of fluid static Pressure
measurement device
Application of fluid static - Buoyancy

Objective
Students should be able to
Acquire knowledge of static fluids.
Determine the variation of pressure
in a fluid at rest.
Calculate the buoyancy force of
submerged and floating body.

Fluid Static
There are NO shear stresses in fluids at
rest.
ONLY normal forces (pressure) are
present.
NO relative motion between adjacent
fluid layers.
Application: water dams, floating or
submerged bodies, liquid storage
tanks.

Pressure

Pressure is defined as a normal force

exerted by a fluid per unit area.
Units of pressure are N/m2 which is
called a Pascal (Pa).
Other units include bar, atm, kgf/cm2,
lbf/in2=psi.

F ma
P
A
A

Pressure
1 bar = 105 Pa = 0.1 MPa = 100 kPa
1 atm = 101325 Pa = 101.325 kPa =
1.01325 bars
= 14.696 psi
1 kgf/cm2 = 9.807 N/cm2 = 9.807x104 N/m2
= 9.807x104 Pa
= 0.9807 bar
= 0.9679 atm

Pressure

Absolute, Gage and Vacuum

Pressure
Actual pressure at a give point is called
the absolute pressure.
It is measured relative to an absolute
vacuum .
Pabs = 0 is also means Patm = 0

Gage pressure is measured relative to

the current pressure of the atmosphere.
Pgage = 0 is at Pabs = 1 atm =101.325
kPa

Absolute, Gage and Vacuum

Pressure

Most pressure measuring devices are

calibrated to read zero in the
atmosphere and therefore indicate
gage pressure.
Pgage=Pabs - Patm
Pressure below atmospheric pressure
are called vacuum pressure.
Pvac=Patm - Pabs

Absolute, Gage and Vacuum

Pressure

Question 3.1
A pressure gage on a tank reads 15 psi.
What is the absolute pressure in the tank?

Pascals Law

Liquids transmit pressure equally in

all directions.
When pressure on any portion of a
confined liquid is changed, the
pressure on every other part of the
liquid is also changed by the same
amount.

The equation in the y and x direction are,

From geometry,

Pascals Law

The equation of motion can be

rewritten as,

Take the limit as dx, dy and dz

approach zero,

Pascals Law

Pascals Law stated that the

pressure at a point in a fluid at rest
or in motion, is independent of
direction as long as there are no
shearing stresses present.

Pascals Law

An example of Pascals Law

application is hydraulic brakes and
hydraulic pressure.

Pascals Law

A hydraulic pump used to lift a car.

When a small force f is applied to a small area a
of a movable piston it creates a pressure P = f/a.
P is transmitted to larger movable piston of area
A and used to lift a car.

Variation of Pressure at
Depth
Consider the vertical
column of fluid in
figure with cross
sectional area of
column S, height Z,
pressure p and
density of fluid .
The of forces acting
on the fluid must = 0.

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

There are 3 vertical forces acting on

this volume, which are:
The force from pressure P acting
upward direction, which is PS.
The force from pressure P + dP acting
downward direction, which is (P + dP)S
The force of gravity acting downward,
which is (g/gC) dzS.

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

Summing all the forces gives:

+ PS (P+dP)S g/gc ( dzS) = 0
After simplification and division by S,
the equation becomes:
dP + g/gc ( dz) = 0
Integrated the equation on
assumption that is constant gives:
P/ + (g/gc) z = constant

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

Liquid are incompressible

can neglect density variation in
hydrostatic ( = constant)
Equation of hydrostatic equilibrium
is:
P2-P1 = - (z2-z1)

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

For lakes and oceans,

+h

Air

P=Pa -h

Free Surface: z = 0, P=Pa

-h

P=Pa + h

Water

* = g
Hydrostatic pressure distribution in
ocean and atmosphere.

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

Pressure head: vertical height z used as a

measure of pressure.
z = h
P = gh

Variation of Pressure at
Depth
(1)
The temperature variation in the troposphere

(2)

Eq.3 Eq2 and integrating,

(3)
(4)
(Pc at the lower
edge of the
stratosphere Zc)

Variation of Pressure at
Depth

It can be concluded that,

1. Pressure in a fluid increases linearly with
depth (fluid = constant)
2. The variation of pressure with height is
negligible for gases because of low
density

Question 3.2
New found lake , a fresh water lake
near Bristol, New Hampshire has a
maximum depth of 60 m and the
mean atmospheric pressure is 91 kPa.
Estimate the absolute pressure in kPa
at this maximum depth. Given =
9790 N/m3.
Ans: 678.4 kPa

Pressure Measurement
Device

Pressure gage
Barometer
Piezometer tube
Manometer tube/ u-tube
Multifluid manometer
Differential manometer

Pressure Measurement
Device

Pressure gage

Barometer

P atmospheric also
known as Pbarometric
PC = 0 and PB=Patm

PC+ gh =Patm

Patm = gh

Unit: mm Hg or torr
1atm = 760 mm Hg

= 760 torr

Question 3.3
Determine
the
atmospheric
pressure at a location where the
barometric reading is 740 mm Hg
and the gravitational acceleration is
g = 9.81 m/s2. Assume the
temperature of mercury to be 10
C, at which its density is 13,570
kg/m3.

Piezometer Tube
Simplest form of
manometer
Open at the top
Consists of a vertical
tube
Attached to the top of
a vessel containing
liquid (not a gases) at
a pressure to be
measured (higher than
Patm).
P measured is relative
to atmospheric = gage
pressure.

Piezometer Tube
Pressure at A =
Pressure due
to column of liquid
above A
PA =
gh1
Pressure at B =
Pressure due
to column of liquid
above B
PB =
gh2

Manometer

P1 P2
P2 Patm gh

Can be used to measure

liquid and gas pressure.
Consists of a U-tube
containing one or more
manomeric fluids such as
mercury, water, alcohol,
or oil.
Heavy fluids such as
mercury are used if large
pressure differences are
anticipated.

U-tube Manometer

Pressure in
continuous static
fluid is the same at
any horizontal level;
Pressure PB at B =
Pressure PC at C

Fluid P
Density,

A
h2
h1
B

Manometric Fluid Density, man

U-tube Manometer

For the LEFT hand arm;

PB = Pressure PA at A + Pressure due to h1
of fluid P
PB = PA + pgh1
For the RIGHT hand arm:
PC = Pressure PD at D + Pressure due to h2
of manometer fluid
PC = Patm + mangh2
PC = 0 + mangh2

U-tube Manometer

Since PB = PC
PA + Pgh1= mangh2

PA = mangh2 Pgh1

Pressure Measurement
Device
For manometers which involve multiple
immiscible fluids of different densities stacked on
top of the other;
P = gh
Pressure downward, and upward.
Two points at the same elevation are at the
same pressure.
Pressure can be determined by + or gh.
Pascals Law allow us to jump from one fluid
column to the next manometers without worrying
about pressure changes as long as we stay in the
same continuous fluisd and the fluid is at rest.

Multifluid Manometer
P2 1 gh1 2 gh2 3 gh3 P1

Measuring Pressure
Drops
Well-suited to measure
pressure drops across
valves, pipes, heat
exchangers, etc.
P1 P2 = ( 1 2)gh
If fluid in pipe is a gas,
2>>1 and P1 P2=
gh

Question 3.4
A manometer is used to
measure the pressure in
the tank. The fluid used
has a specific gravity of
0.85 and the manometer
column height is 55 cm.
If the local atmospheric
pressure is 96 kPa,
determine the absolute
pressure within the tank.

Buoyancy
Buoyancy is an upward
force on a body
immersed in a fluid.
FB = Fbottom Ftop
= f g(s + h)A f
gsA
= f gV

Buoyancy

The buoyant force acting on a body

immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight
of the fluid displaced by the body
Archimedess Principal

Buoyancy
For floating body:
FB = W fgVsub = ave.bodygVtotal

Vsub ave body

Vtotal
f

Submerged volume fraction of a

floating body is equal to the
density of the fluid.
If ave body /f = 1 or 1, floating body
becomes completely submerged.

Buoyancy
Buoyancy force FB is
equal only to the
displaced volume
fgVdisplaced.
Three scenarios possible
Submerged
body

body < fluid :

Floating body
body = fluid :
Neutrally buoyant
body > fluid :
Submerged body

Buoyancy - Stability

Buoyancy - Stability

Buoyancy - Application
Submarine and ballast system
To sink a submarine, the
ballast tank is filled with
water to increase the
density and weight of the
submarine and make it
larger than the buoyancy
force of the water.
To float a submarine, water
is forced out of the ballast
tank with compressed air
thus decreases the density
and weight of the
submarine, when the
buoyancy force of the water
becomes larger than the
density and weight of the
submarine, it will easily
floats.

Buoyancy - Application

Weight of water displaced equal the

weight of the cargo. The ship can be
unstable due to the overweight of
the cargo.

Buoyancy - Application

Inside air balloon is heated by external

burner
Hot air < cold air = balloon floats
Buoyancy of balloon controlled by the
burner

Question 3.5
A rectangular 0.4m x
0.4m x 3m of
concrete block is
lowered into the sea
( = 1025 kg/m3).
Determine the
buoyancy force acting
on the concrete block
when it is completely
immersed in water.
50