IY472 – Thermofluids

LAB 3: Hydrostatics
This simulation shows the effect of the weight of stationary fluids over the fluid layers beneath
them.

Hydrostatic Pressure is the pressure produced in liquids when they are stationary (hydrodynamics
deals with fluids in motion, and their study is generally more complex). In Hydrostatics it is only the
weight of the liquid (plus any additional pressure applied to the top surface of the liquid) that needs
to be considered.

At any depth under the surface of a liquid, the layer beneath needs to support the total weight of all
the liquid above it. Consider an imaginary cylinder of water with base A and height h; its volume will
be Ah, and its mass will be Ahρ, where ρ is the density of the liquid. The weight that needs to be
supported by the layer underneath it will be Ahρg (where g is gravity). That weight acts over the
entire bottom area of the imaginary cylinder we are considering. The pressure will be the Weight
divided by that Area, so the pressure at the bottom will be P = ρgh.

The pressure increases linearly as the depth increases. The pressure gradient is defined as dP/dh =
rg. Submarines and divers can work out how far beneath the surface of the sea they are, simply by
measuring the pressure: h = P/ρg. Atmospheric pressure also increases the lower we go. At sea level
it is approximately 100kPa (= 1 Atmosphere), and as you climb up a mountain or fly in an aeroplane,
the pressure decreases the higher you go. However, atmospheric pressure gradient is not linear,
because gasses are compressible, so the density does not remain uniform.
 1. Click on the pressure gauge and drag it up and down. Notice the change in the pressure
displayed.
2. Find out where the pressure is maximum, and where it is minimum.
3. What happens to the pressure when the gauge is higher than the water level inside the
header tank?
4. Drag the gauge until it is about half way down and note what the pressure is.
5. Click on the tap and turn it to the right. What do you notice happens to the pressure when
the water is flowing? How does this pressure change by opening up the tap.
6. Notice how the speed of flow affects the recorded pressure. Notice also how this affects how
far the water flies out at the end of the pipe. Explain.
7. Click on the ‘’Show pressure head’’ button to display a scale to help you with some
calculations.
8. Calculate the Hydrostatic pressure gradient in KPa/m and enter it in the field provided, and
press the ‘’Check’’ button to see if you have calculated it correctly.
9. Select a different liquid by toggling the switch at the top left corner and see how this affects
the pressure, What do you deduce about their relative densities?
10. If the density of water is 1000 Kg/m3 how much is the density of the alcohol using this
experiment.

Structure of the report:

11. Abstract
12. Introduction
13. Theory
14. Experimental procedure
15. Analysis
16. Results
17. Discussion
18. Conclusion
19. Reference
20. Appendix

References:
• Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, Eight Edition, Y. Cengel, M. Boles,

• The Virtual Physics Laboratory, www.vplab.co.uk.