8.

3 Hydrostatic force and pressure (omit other

applications)

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 1 / 20

Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are hydrostatic pressure and force?
How to compute the hydrostatic pressure and force?
(Will not be tested) A few words on moments and center of mass

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 2 / 20

Guidelines and objectives

Guidelines
get ready to take notes,
prepare questions for your instructor or TA, and
get ready to answer some questions.

Questions in magenta are prompts, and they are not part of the quiz

Objectives
By the end of this video, you should be able to
describe what hydrostatic pressure is,
explain what hydrostatic force is,
compute the hydrostatic presure and force on an object in a variety of settings, and
(will not be tested) recall generalities about another application of integrals: moments
and center of mass.

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 3 / 20

Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are hydrostatic pressure and force?
How to compute the hydrostatic pressure and force?
(Will not be tested) A few words on moments and center of mass

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 4 / 20

What are hydrostatic pressure and force?

Does anybody know what hydrostatic pressure and force are?

Figure 1 from Section 8.3

Definition
The hydrostatic force on an object is the force that is exerted on the object due
to the pressure of a fluid.
The hydrostatic pressure on an object is the hydrostatic force per unit area.

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 5 / 20

How to compute the hydrostatic pressure and force?

Hydrostatic Force = (mass)(gravity),

mass = (fluid density)(volume) = (fluid density)(area)(depth),
Hydrostatic Pressure = Hydrostatic Force/area.

Thin horizontal plate

F = P A = (ρdg)A,
ρ = fluid density, d = depth, g = gravity, A = area.

Metric System: F orce → N ewtons = (kg)(m)/sec2 , P ressure → P a,

g = 9.8m/sec2 , ρwater = 103 kg/m3 = 1g/cm3

Imperial System: F orce → lb, P ressure → lb/f t2 ,

P = ρdg = δd, δ = weight density = 62.5lb/f t3 .

What happens when we don’t have a thin horizontal plate but a random object?

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 6 / 20

Example 1
Based on Example 1 from 8.3
Suppose that a dam has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. The height of the dam is
20m and the width is 50m at the top and 30m at the bottom. Let’s find the force on
the dam due to hydrostatic pressure if the water level is 4m from the top of the dam.

What about you giving this a try before checking the solution?
Solution.

Figure 3 from Section 8.3

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 7 / 20

Continuation of Example 1

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 8 / 20

Quiz: Question 1(out of 3)

Exercise 2 from Section 8.3

Answer: (a) P = 12, 054P a ≈ 12kP a, (b) F = 385, 728N ≈ 3.86 × 105 N , (c) 36, 162N ≈ 3.62 × 104 N .

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 9 / 20

Example 2

Based on Example 2 from Section 8.3

Suppose that we were interested in finding the hydrostatic force on one end of a
cylindrical drum with radius 3f t if the drum is submerged in water 10f t deep.

Are you trying this first? You’ll learn more if you do!
Solution.

Figure 3 from Section 8.3

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 10 / 20

Continuation of Example 2

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 11 / 20

Quiz: Question 2 (out of 3)

Based on Exercise 6 from section 8.3

A vertical plate is partially submerged in water and has the indicated shape. Explain
how to approximate the hydrostatic force agains one side of the plate by a Riemann
sum. Then express the force as an integral and evaluate it.

0 i=1 i=1
n→∞
62.5(4 − yi )2 36 − (yi∗ )2 ∆y = 62.5(4 − y)2 36 − y 2 dy = 5766.46lb. δdAi = lim Answer: F =
∗
q Z 4 q X
n X
n

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 12 / 20

(Optional) Moments and centers of mass

Figures 6 and 8 from Section 8.3

Definition
Consider a system of finitely many particles.
The center of mass of the system is the point on which the system balances well.
The moment of the system about the x-axis measures the tendency of the system to
rotate about the x-axis. We have the analogue about the moment about the y-axis.

Had anyone ever heard about moments and centers of mass in Physics?
By the Law of the Lever:
  P P 
Moment about the y-axis Moment about the x-axis mi xi mi yi
P = (x̄, ȳ) = , = P , P .
Total mass Total mass mi mi

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 13 / 20

(Will not be tested) Centroid of a lamina

Figures 5 and 10 from Section 8.3

Z b Z b Z b
1
Mx = ρ [f (x)]2 dx, My = ρ xf (x)dx, mass = ρA = ρ f (x)dx,
a 2 a a
Rb Rb !
xf (x)dx a 12 [f (x)]2 dx
 
My Mx a
P = (x̄, ȳ) = , = Rb , Rb .
mass mass f (x)dx f (x)dx
a a

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 14 / 20

(Optional) Question

Find the moments and the center of mass of the system of objects that have
masses 3 and 4 at the points (−1, 1) and (2, −1), respectively.
The point on which a thin plate of any given shape balances horizontally is called
the center of mass (or center of gravity) of the plate. Find the center of mass of
the plate below by using Riemann sums and then integration.

Figure 11 from Section 8.3

, 0, 3π
4r .
15
29 , 1 Answer:
   

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 15 / 20

Quiz: Question 3 (out of 3)

True or false?
The hydrostatic force on an object is the force that is exerted on the object due to the
pressure of a fluid. The fluid can only be chosen as water.
The hydrostatic pressure on an object is the hydrostatic force per unit the area.
To compute the hydrostatic presure and the hydrostatic force on an object we add
corresponding values on arbitrarily thin horizontal slices of the object.
(Optional) The center of mass of a thin lamina of a given shape coincides with the center
of mass of any system of finitely many points on the lamina.

Answer: F,T,T,F.

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 16 / 20

Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are hydrostatic pressure and force?
How to compute the hydrostatic pressure and force?
(Will not be tested) A few words on moments and center of mass

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 17 / 20

Summary

The hydrostatic force on an object is the force that is exerted on the object due to the
pressure of a fluid.
The hydrostatic pressure on an object is the hydrostatic force per unit area.
To compute the hydrostatic presure and the hydrostatic force on an object we add
corresponding values on arbitrarily thin horizontal slices of the object.
(Will not be tested) We can use integration to compute the center of mass of any thin
lamina of a given shape.

For more information, please take a look at Section 8.3 from our textbook.

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 18 / 20

Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are hydrostatic pressure and force?
How to compute the hydrostatic pressure and force?
(Will not be tested) A few words on moments and center of mass

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 19 / 20

Further Discussion Questions

1 One of the questions from the quiz.

2 The plate in the picture is submerged in water 7m deep. Find the hydrostatic force on the
plate if the bottom is 5m long, and the side is 4m long. Would the answer change if we
rotate the plate?

MATH 1AA3/1ZB3 Winter 2021 Lorena Aguirre Salazar 20 / 20