Chapter 2: Fluid Statics

Content
2.1 The Basic Equation of Fluid Statics
2.2 Pressure Measurement
2.3 Hydrostatics Force on Submerged Plane
Surfaces, Horizontal, Vertical and inclined
2.4 Hydrostatics Force on Submerged Curved
Surface
2.5 Buoyancy and Stability
 Pressure
• Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted
by a fluid per unit area.
• Units of pressure are N/m2, which is called a
pascal (Pa).
• Since the unit Pa is too small for pressures
encountered in practice, kilopascal (1 kPa = 103
Pa) and megapascal (1 MPa = 106 Pa) are
commonly used.
• Other units include bar, atm, kgf/cm2,
lbf/in2=psi.
Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures

• Actual pressure at a give point is called

the absolute pressure.
• Most pressure-measuring devices are
calibrated to read zero in the atmosphere,
and therefore indicate gage pressure,
Pgage=Pabs - Patm
• Pressure below atmospheric pressure are
called vacuum pressure, Pvac=Patm - Pabs
Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures
 Example 1
• A diver is working at a depth of 18 m
below the surface of the sea. How much
greater is the pressure intensity at this
depth than at the surface? Specific weight
of sea water is 10000 N/m3.
 Example 2
• A cylinder contains a fluid at a gauge
pressure of 350 kN/m2. Express this
pressure in terms of a head of
• a) water (H2O)=1000 kg/m3)
• b) mercury (sg = 13.6)
• What would be the absolute pressure in
the cylinder if the atmospheric pressure is
101.3 kN/m2
 Solution
• H =35.68m
• H=2.62 m
• Absolute pressure = Gauge pressure +
atmospheric pressure
• =451.3 kN/m2
 Pressure at a Point

• Pressure at any point in a fluid is the same

in all directions.
• Pressure has a magnitude, but not a
specific direction, and thus it is a scalar
quantity.
Pressure at a Point
• The pressure P at a point in
a fluid can be expressed in
terms of the height h of the
column of the fluid which
causes the pressure, or
which would cause an equal
pressure if the actual
pressure is applied by other
means.
 Variation of Pressure with Depth
• In the presence of a gravitational
field, pressure increases with
depth because more fluid rests on
deeper layers.
P  P2  P1   g z   s z
• To obtain a relation for the
variation of pressure with depth,
consider rectangular element
– Force balance in z-direction gives
F z  maz  0
P2 x  P1x   g xz  0
– Dividing by x and rearranging gives

P  P2  P1   g z   s z
Variation of Pressure with Depth
• Pressure in a fluid at rest is independent of the
shape of the container.
• Pressure is the same at all points on a
horizontal plane in a given fluid.
Pascal’s Law
• Pressure applied to a
confined fluid increases the
pressure throughout by the
same amount.
• In picture, pistons are at
same height:
F1 F2 F2 A2
P1  P2    
A1 A2 F1 A1

• Ratio A2/A1 is called ideal

mechanical advantage
Variation of pressure vertically
in a fluid under gravity
• Consider a hypothetical
differential cylindrical element of
fluid of cross sectional area A
and height (z2 – z1).
• Upward force due to pressure P1
on the element = P1A
• Downward force due to pressure
P2 on the element = P2A
• Force due to weight of the element
• mg = ρA(z2 - z1)g
• Equating the upward and downward
forces,
• P1A = P2A +  A(z2 - z1)g
• P2 - P1 = -  g(z2 - z1)
• Thus in any fluid under gravitational
acceleration, pressure decreases, with
increasing height z in the upward direction.
Equality of pressure at the same level
in a static fluid

• Equating the horizontal forces,

• P1A = P2A
• i.e. sum of the horizontal forces must
be zero.
Equality of pressure at the same level in a
continuous body of fluid

PP = PQ
• Pressures at the same level will be equal in a
continuous body of fluid, even though there is no
direct horizontal path between P and Q provided
that P and Q are in the same continuous body of
fluid.
• PR = P S
• PR = PP +  gz
• PS = PQ +  gz
• PP +  gz = PQ +  gz
• PP = P Q
Piezometer
• For measuring pressure
inside a vessel or pipe in
which liquid is there, a
tube may be attached to
the walls of the container
(or pipe) in which the
liquid resides so liquid
can rise in the tube.
 Example
• A pressure tube is used to measure the
pressure of oil (mass density ρ=640kg/m3)
in a pipline. If the oil rises to a height of 1.2
m above the centre of the pipe, what is the
gauge pressure in N/m2 at that point?
 The Manometer
• An elevation change of z in
a fluid at rest corresponds
to P/g.
• A device based on this is
called a manometer.
• A manometer consists of a
U-tube containing one or
more fluids such as
mercury, water, alcohol, or
oil.
• Heavy fluids such as
mercury are used if large
P1  P2 pressure differences are
anticipated.
P2  Patm   gh
Mutlifluid Manometer
• For multi-fluid systems
– Pressure change across a fluid
column of height h is P = gh.
– Pressure increases downward,
and decreases upward.
– Two points at the same
elevation in a continuous fluid
are at the same pressure.
– Pressure can be determined by
adding and subtracting gh
terms.
P2  1 gh1   2 gh2  3 gh3  P1
Measuring Pressure Drops
• Manometers are well--suited
to measure pressure drops
across valves, pipes, heat
exchangers, etc.
• Relation for pressure drop
P1-P2 is obtained by starting
at point 1 and adding or
subtracting gh terms until
we reach point 2.
• If fluid in pipe is a gas,
2>>1 and P1-P2= gh
 The Barometer
• Atmospheric pressure is
measured by a device called a
barometer; thus, atmospheric
pressure is often referred to as
the barometric pressure.
• PC can be taken to be zero
since there is only Hg vapor
above point C, and it is very low
relative to Patm.
• Change in atmospheric
pressure due to elevation has
many effects: Cooking, nose
PC   gh  Patm bleeds, engine performance,
Patm   gh aircraft performance.
 Fluid Statics
• Fluid Statics deals with problems associated with
fluids at rest.
• In fluid statics, there is no relative motion between
adjacent fluid layers.
• Therefore, there is no shear stress in the fluid trying
to deform it.
• The only stress in fluid statics is normal stress
– Normal stress is due to pressure
– Variation of pressure is due only to the weight of the fluid
→ fluid statics is only relevant in presence of gravity
fields.
• Applications: Floating or submerged bodies, water
dams and gates, liquid storage tanks, etc.
 Example 3

• Using Figure below,

calculate the pressure at point
A.
 Example 4

• Calculate the difference

in pressure between
points A and B in the
figure below, and
express it as Pb-Pa
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
• Example of elevation
head z converted to
velocity head V2/2g.
We'll discuss this in
more detail in Chapter
5 (Bernoulli equation).