Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Department of Chemical Engineering

[Course Code]
[Course Name]

Pre-Lab report

[Experiment number and title]

[Student’s name]

[Student’s ID]

[Date]
1 Experiment’s objectives:

In this experiment we will study the forces exerted by a liquid on a fully

submerged plane surface. We will calculate the magnitude of this hydrostatic force
and its point of action (center of pressure). We will calculate the location of center
of pressure (theoretical values) and compare it with its experimental values

2 Preliminary steps and Procedure:

The accessory consists of a quadrant that will float on water. We will first check
that the balance is leveled. Then we will add water to the tank and calculate the
hydrostatic force on the flat surface of the quadrant. Also, we will add mass so that
the level of the balance arm is horizontal.
The force that acts on the flat surface causes a moment about the turning point of
the balance, this moment will be balanced by the mass that we add to the hook.
The forces that act on the curved surface of the quadrant does not generate any
moment about the turning point of the balance, since these forces pass through this
turning point (center of the quadrant).
The level of water and the masses will be recorded for five different water levels.

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3 Calculations and analysis of the experiment:

After recording the water level and mass for five different water levels.
The hydrostatic force of the flat surface is calculated using the following
equation:
F R =( Po + ρg y c sinθ ) A

Where:
Po :usually is the atmospheric pressure which can be ignored .

y c :is the distance form the centroid of the pate ¿the water surface .

θ :is theangle that the plate makes with the horizontal direction

A: is the area of the flat plate.

The theoretical value of the location of center of pressure is calculated using the
following equation:
I xx , c
y p= y c +
y Po
c+ .A
ρgsinθ

Where:
a b3
I xx , c = , is the centroidal moment of inertia of rectangular flat plate.
12

The experimental value of yp is calculated through the moment balance about

the turning point of the balance.
∑ M ( O )=W ∗L−F R∗Ĺ=0
Where:
W = mass * acceleration of gravity.
L: is the distance from the hook to the balance support.
F R :is thehydrostatic force on the flat plate .

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Ĺ : is the distance from the balance support to the point of action of the
hydrostatic force.
The error between the theoretical and experimental values of center of pressure
is calculated using the following equation:
|theoretial value−experimental value|
Error %= ∗100
theoretial value

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