Lesson 2: PRINCIPLES OF HYDROSTATICS

Read and understand the discussion in lesson 2.

Unit Pressure or Pressure

• Pressure in a fluid at rest is defined as the normal force per unit area exerted on a plane
surface (real or imaginary) immersed in a fluid and is created by the bombardment of
the surface with the fluid molecules.
units: lb/in2 or psi (English), N/m2 or Pa. (S.I.)

Pascal’s Law
“Pressure at a point in a fluid is equal in all directions”

Watch this video for further explanation of Pascal’s law

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV5IEooHqIw

Absolute and Gage Pressures:

Gage Pressure/ Relative Pressure
o pressures above or below the atmospheric and can be measured by pressure
gauges or manometers
Atmospheric Pressure
o pressure at any point on the earth’s surface from the weight of the air above it.
Vacuum
o space devoid of matter.
Absolute Pressure
o pressure above absolute zero (vacuum)
o Absolute Pressure = Gage Pressure + Atmospheric Pressure

Source: Fluid Mechanics Demystified

 Variations in Pressure

Source: Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics by Munson, Young, et al.

Pressure below layers of Different Liquids

Converting Pressure Head of Liquid 1 to Liquid 2:

Manometers
It is a pressure measuring devices which uses liquid columns or inclined tube.

Type of Manometer
1. Open Type
2. Differential Type
3. Piezometer
How to Analyze U-tube manometer problems:

• Specify the starting point. In given figure, we

will start at point A.
• The pressure at points A and 1 are the same
as we move from point 1 to point 2 the pres-
sure will increase by
• The pressure at point 2 is equal to the pres-
sure at point 3 since these points are in the
same elevation.
• With the pressure at point 3, we move to the
open end where the gage pressure is zero. If
the last point is not open, then we should
identify the gage pressure at that point.
Moving upward would mean that we will de-
crease the pressure by

Sample Problem 1:
For the open tank with piezometers attached on the side,
contains two different
liquids.
• Find the elevation of the liquid in piezometer A.
• Find the pressure at the bottom of the tank.
• Find the elevation of the liquid in piezometer B.

Solution:

• Elevation of liquid at piezometer A = 2m.

• Pressure at the bottom of the tank:
Pbottom = 9.81(0.72)(2 - 0.3)+ 9.81(2.36)(0.3)
Pbottom = 18.95 kPa

• Elevation of the liquid at piezometer B:

0 + 9.81(0.72)(1.7) + 9.81(2.36)(0.3)- 2.36(h)(9.81) = 0
h = 0.819
Elevation 0 + 0.819 = 0.819 m.
Sample Problem 2:
A manometer connects an oil pipeline and a water pipeline, as shown. Determine the difference
in pressure between the two pipelines using the readings on the manometer. Use Soil = 0.86 and
SHg = 13.6.

Solution:
From point 1 to point 4 or Air:
Eq’n ❶

From Air or point 5 to point 6:

Eq’n ❷

Using equation 1 and 2, we obtain:

13.6" 9.81" 0.08" 0.86" 9.81" 0.06" 9.81" 0.04"

&' &( 9.775 KPa
 TASK 2: SOLVE FOR THE VALUE OF PRESSURE

Problem Solving
Instructions: Analyze and solve the following problems. Enclose your final an-
swer in a box.

1. For the closed tank with Bourdon-tube gages tapped into it shown in figure 1, what is
the specific gravity of the oil and the pressure reading on gage C?

2. A vertical conduit is carrying oil (S=0.95) as shown in figure 2. A differential mercury

manometer is tapped into the conduit at points A and B. Determine the difference in
pressure between A and B when h=3in. What is the difference in piezometric head be-
tween A and B?

3. A device for measuring the specific weight of a liquid consists of a U-tube manometer.
The manometer tube has an internal diameter of 0.5 cm and originally has water in it.
Exactly 2cm^3 of unknown liquid is then poured into one leg of the manometer, and a
displacement of 5 cm is measured between the surfaces. What is the specific weight of
the unknown liquid?

4. What is the maximum gage pressure in the odd tank shown in figure 5? Where will the
maximum pressure occur? What is the hydrostatic force acting on the top (CD) of the
last chamber on the right-hand side of the tank?

5. What is the pressure of the air inside the tank as shown in figure 6. Elevations are in m.

FIGURE 6.0

FIGURE 5.0

FIGURE 2.0
FIGURE 1.0