MECHANICS OF

FLUIDS Civil Engineering Program

College of Engineering Education
The University of Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines
 CHAPTER 3

TOTAL HYDROSTATIC FORCE

ON SURFACES
PLANE SURFACES
Total hydrostatic force on Plane Surface
If the pressure over a plane area is uniform, the total
hydrostatic force on the plane area is:

F = pA

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

Total hydrostatic force on Plane Surface
In the case of an inclined or vertical plane submerged in a
liquid, the total pressure can be found by the following
formula:

𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒:
$
𝑭 = 𝜸𝒉𝑨 𝜸 = 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
0 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
𝒉
𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐! 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑆
𝑭 = 𝒑𝒄𝒈 𝑨 𝑨 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

Location of F, (hp)

cp is the point where the hydrosta7c force is ac7ng.

hp is the ver7cal distance from the liquid surface to cp.

Eccentricity is the distance between center of gravity of the surface and

the center of pressure where hydrosta7c force is located.

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

Location of F, (hp)

𝑳𝑺

𝑰𝒈 %
𝒚𝒑 = 𝒆 + 𝒚
𝒆=
!
𝒉𝒑 𝒉
𝒚!
𝒚
𝑨%
𝒚
𝑭 𝒑

𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆

𝜃 𝑐!
0
𝒉
0=
𝒚
𝑐"
𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽
𝒆

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

 Example
A vertical rectangular gate 1.5 m wide and 3 m high is submerged in water
with its top edge 2 m below the water surface. Find the total pressure acting
on one side of the gate and its location from the bottom

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

 Example
A vertical triangular gate with top base horizontal and 1.5 m wide and 3 m
high. It is submerged in oil (s=0.82) with its top base submerged to a depth
of 2 m. Determine the magnitude and location of the total hydrostatic force
acting on one side of the gate.

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

 Example
A vertical rectangular plate is submerged half in oil (S=0.82) and half in
water such that its top is Flushed with the oil surface. What is the total
hydrostatic force acting on the plate if its base is 3 m and height is 7 m.

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

 Example
Determine the magnitude of the total hydrostatic force acting on the 2 m x 4
m gate shown in the figure.

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3

 Example
In the Figure shown, the value of h is 5.77 m. The length of the gate
perpendicular to the sketch is 1.5 m. Find the force on stop B before it starts
to break.

HYDROSTATIC FORCE ON PLANE SURFACE CHAPTER 3