The American University in Cairo

Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics

Lab Report

Experiment 2
Hydrostatic force on a plane surface

Dr. Mohy Mansour

Mahmoud Abido

Raed Barsoum
Mostafa Mostafa
Eslam Ehab El-Shakr
Mohamed Abo Shoir
Contents
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 2
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3
Theory ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Objective .................................................................................................................................... 5
Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 5
Equipment .................................................................................................................................. 5
Results ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 8
Discussions ................................................................................................................................. 9

List of Figures

Figure 1 4
Figure 2 6
Figure 3 7
Abstract

The main purpose of this experiment is to determine hydrostatic force acting on plane
surface immersed in water and the position of the line of action of the force experimentally
and compare with theoretical value. The experiment is done under two conditions: full and
partially submerged quadrant. The variables in the experiment are mass that balances the
gate and the water level which balance the quadrant with the masses. We can calculate the
experimental value of the position of line of action by summing the moment around certain
point. After we calculate the hydrostatic force and position of line of action we compare it
with theoretical values. It was evident from the table how acceptable the experimental
solution of finding the location of the centre of pressure is, and how the effect of ignored
forces is negligible. The percentage error decreased with water level and centre of pressure
went deeper as the quadrant went deeper under water.

Introduction

This report presents an experiment aimed at applying the theory related to hydrostatic
forces on plane surfaces and validating it by comparing the theoretical solution to the
experimental one. An arm free to rotate at a pivot is acted upon by two forces. One force is
due to the weight of added masses to the arm. The second force is the hydrostatic force
acting upon a plastic quadrant that is immersed in water and attached to the arm as shown
in the figure. By adjusting these two forces, the arm will stay horizontal. Using formulas
derived theoretically, the position of the hydrostatic force which will counter the effect of
weight is calculated. Then using the moment equation based on the equilibrium of the arm,
the experimental position of the hydrostatic force is obtained and compared to the
theoretical one.

Fig 1

Hydrostatic force
Weight

Theory

Theoretical part:
̅ sin⁡(𝛼)𝐴
𝐹ℎ𝑠 = 𝛾𝑌
 ̅+
𝐼̅
𝑌𝐶𝑃 = 𝑌 ̅𝐴
𝑌
𝑏ℎ3
𝐼̅ =
12
2𝑑
𝑌𝐶𝑃 = ℎ̀𝑡ℎ = 3
⁡⁡⁡⁡(Partially submerged)
2
̀ 3𝑑 − 3𝑑𝐷 + 𝐷2
𝑌𝐶𝑃 = ℎ𝑡ℎ = ⁡⁡⁡⁡(𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦⁡𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑)
𝐷
3(𝑑 − 2 )

Experimental part:

∑ 𝑀𝐻 = 0

𝑚𝑔𝑙 = 𝐹ℎ̈

ℎ̈ = ℎ̀ + 𝐻 − 𝑑
Partially submerged:
A=dB

̅=
𝑑
𝑌
2
𝐵𝑑3
𝐼̅ =
12
𝛼 = 90°

𝛾𝑑2 𝐵
𝐹ℎ𝑠 =
2
̀ 2𝑚𝑔𝑙
𝑌𝐶𝑃 = ℎ𝑒𝑥𝑝 = 𝑑 − 𝐻 +
𝛾𝑑2 𝐵
Fully submerged:
A=BD

̅ =𝐷−
𝑑
𝑌
2
𝐵𝐷3
𝐼̅ =
12
𝛼 = 90°
𝑑
𝐹ℎ𝑠 = 𝛾(𝐷 − )𝐵𝐷
2
 ̀ 𝑚𝑔𝑙
𝑌𝐶𝑃 = ℎ𝑒𝑥𝑝 = +𝑑−𝐻
𝐷
𝛾 (𝑑 − 2 ) 𝐵𝐷

Objective

Determine the hydrostatic force acting on a plane surface immersed in water. Determine
the position of line of action of the force experimentally and compare it with theoretical
position

Procedure

Hydrostatic force on a plane surface

1) Level the balance arm using the counterbalance when the tank is initially empty.
2) Add mass and fill tank until the balance arm is horizontal.
3) Open the drain valve to gradually drain water from the tank if needed to ensure that the
balance arm is horizontal.
4) Record the water level.
5) Repeat: adding mass, filling the tank until the balance arm is horizontal and recording the
mass and water level.

Equipment
1) A plastic quadrant inside a glass tank and there is a long arm. (Fig 2)
2) Weights (Fig 3)
Results

Mass Water level Hydrostatic COP from water COP from water Percentage
m/g d/mm force / N surface h’Th surface h’Exp Error
/mm /mm
50 44 0.712 29.3 33.4 14
100 64 1.507 42.67 43 0.8
150 80 2.354 53.33 51.9 2.7
200 94 3.251 62.7 60 4.3
Fully submerged quadrant values
250 107 4.19 71.6 67.8 5.3
300 119 5.08 81.1 78.4 3.3
350 132 6.03 92.2 88.5 4
400 144 6.92 103 100 2.9
420 149 7.3 107.4 104 3.2
440 155 7.73 113 108.7 3.8
450 157 7.87 114.8 111.2 3.1
500 170 8.83 127 122.8 3.3

140

120
COP from water surface / mm

100

80

60

40

20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Water level d / mm
 16

14

12
Percentage error

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Water level d / mm

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s obvious that the position of centre of pressure is directly proportional to
water level. Moreover, the force applied on the gate is non-uniform which makes the centre
of pressure be not the same position of the centroid of the gate. The centre of pressure is
getting nearer to where the most portion of force applied.
Discussions

Raed Rafik Wasfy

Part A: For a partially submerged gate:

In the Partially submerged part the Hydrostatic force increases as the d (The Water Height)
increases. Because as the water increases the pressure on the object increase.
Also the line of action gets higher as the water height increases. h' & d are directly
proportional because h' equal to d * constant.

Part B: For a fully submerged gate:

The Hydrostatic force is also directly proportional to the height o the water in the container
as the height increases the force increases the object was fully submerged at height of d =
200 mm. AS the height of the water increases in the tank the line of action that the force act
at is getting higher.

Eslam Ehab El-Shakr

This experiment is aiming at determining the position of the center of pressure of the
hydrostatic force and it is load line experimentally then comparing it to the theoretical
answers. Furthermore, this experiment is executed under two different conditions: fully
submerged and partially submerged and the results of these two cases theoretically and
experimentally are compered.
From the results obtained, it is clear that, the hydrostatic force is a function of depth or, in
other words, the level of the water (d). The more depth we have, the higher force we get. In
addition to that, the position the center of pressure and the line of pressure action ( 𝑌𝑐𝑝 ) is a
function of mass and water depth (d). Therefore, 𝑌𝑐𝑝 can be calculated by calculating the
summation of moments around point “m”. therefore, the more mass we have, the more
depth we get and the further center we have. Moreover, by calculating the percentage of
error between the theoretical values of 𝑌𝑐𝑝 and the experimental ones, it is clear that, the
experimental values of 𝑌𝑐𝑝 ⁡is very close to the theoretical values as the error varies between
4.3% and 0.8%, which indicates the higher accuracy of the experiment although the 14%
that we got for the first reading. However, this was because of the small values of the mass
and the depth.
Mostafa Mostafa
In this experiment, we are aiming at calculating compare the position of the hydrostatic
force theoretically and experimentally. Moreover, we are executing this experiment under
two different conditions: fully submerged and partially submerged and we compare the
results of these two cases theoretically and experimentally.
The hydrostatic force is a function of water level ”d”. The position of line of action of
pressure”y_cp” is a function of mass and water level “d” and we can calculate 𝑌𝑐𝑝 by
calculating the summation of moments around point “m”.

Mohamed Abo Shoir

From the table, we can observe that percentage error decreases with increasing water level
till almost reaching a constant value. A percentage error of 3% can be considered low and
acceptable. The theory is therefore validated. Sources of error is possibly due to neglected
forces in the moment equation. From the neglected forces are the buoyancy force and
weight of the arm and quadrant itself. However, we can infer from such a low percentage
error that the effect of the weight of the arm and quadrant is almost cancelled by the effect
of the buoyancy force. Another observation is that the location of hydrostatic force
becomes deeper with increasing water level.