CEE 102/L

Physics 1 for Engineers

ULO 3b
Fluid Mechanics
Metalanguage
Fluid – is any liquid or gas or generally any material that cannot sustain a tangential, or shearing,
force when at rest and that undergoes a continuous change in shape when subjected to such a stress.

Extensive Property – is a property that depends on the amount of matter in a sample.

Mass – of an object is a measure of the amount of matter that an object contains.
Volume – of an object is a measure of the space that is occupied by that object.
Intensive Property – is a property of matter that depends only on the type of matter in a sample
and not on the amount.
Density – is a measure of how heavy it is for the amount measured.
Temperature – is a physical quantity that expresses hot and cold or a measure of the average
kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules in the system. Increasing the temperature generally
decreases its density and vice versa.
Properties of Fluid
Density
– is defined as its mass per unit volume.
– is the ratio between mass and volume or mass per
unit volume.
– is a measure of how much stuff an object has in a
unit volume.
– essentially a measurement of how tightly matter
is crammed together.

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 ,𝑚
𝜌=
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒, 𝑉
where:
= mass of object (kg)
= volume (m3)
Example 1:
Determine the volume of a 432
N lion in gallons if the density
of mammals is roughly the
same as of water.
Example 2:
Determine the density of
seawater if at the same amount
of water, it is 30 kg heavier.
Properties of Fluid Example 3:

Specific Weight
Determine the specific weight
of an oak beam 10m by 20cm
– or weight density of a fluid is the weight per unit
volume.
by 4m of mass 58 kg.
– With increase in temperature volume increase and
hence specific weight decreases.

– With increase in pressure, volume decreases and

hence specific weight increases.

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔h𝑡 ,𝑤 𝑚𝑔
𝛾= =
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 ,𝑉 𝑉
where:
= weight of the object (N)
= volume (m3)
Properties of Fluid Example 4:

Specific Gravity
A cylinder of plastic is 100 mm
long, and 50 mm in diameter. It
– is the ratio between the density of an object, and a
reference substance.
has a mass of 1 kg. Determine
– it can tell us, based on its value, if the object will its specific gravity and indicate
sink or float in our reference substance. whether it would float or sink
in water.
– Usually our reference substance is water which
always has a density of 1000 kg per cubic meter.

𝜌 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡
𝑆𝐺 =
𝜌 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
where:
= density (kg/m3)
Hydrostatic Pressure of Fluids
– The term ‘pressure’ is used to indicate the normal force per unit
area at a point acting on a given plane within the fluid mass of
interest.
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 , 𝐹
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 , 𝑃 =
𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐴
In engineering applications, PRESSURE can be
measured by either;

Absolute Pressure
– is the pressure of having no matter inside a space, or a
perfect vacuum.
𝑃 𝑎𝑏𝑠 =𝜌 𝑔h
where:
= density of the fluid (kg/m3)
= depth or height of the test point (m)
Hydrostatic Pressure of Fluids
– The term ‘pressure’ is used to indicate the normal force per unit
area at a point acting on a given plane within the fluid mass of
interest.
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 , 𝐹 Example 5:
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 , 𝑃 = Determine the absolute
𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐴
In engineering applications, PRESSURE can be
pressure experienced by a diver
measured by either; at 20 m below the sea level.
Absolute Pressure
– is the pressure of having no matter inside a space, or a
perfect vacuum.
𝑃 𝑎𝑏𝑠 =𝜌 𝑔h
where:
= density of the fluid (kg/m3)
= depth or height of the test point (m)
Hydrostatic Pressure of Fluids
– The term ‘pressure’ is used to indicate the normal force per unit
area at a point acting on a given plane within the fluid mass of
interest.
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 , 𝐹
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 , 𝑃 =
𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐴
In engineering applications, PRESSURE can be
measured by either;

Gauge Pressure
– the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure.

𝑃 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒 =𝑃 𝑎𝑏𝑠 + 𝑃 𝑎 𝑡𝑚
where:
Hydrostatic Pressure of Fluids
– The term ‘pressure’ is used to indicate the normal force per unit
area at a point acting on a given plane within the fluid mass of
interest.
Example 6:
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 , 𝐹
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 , 𝑃 = Determine the gauge pressure
𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐴
experienced by a coin at the
In engineering applications, PRESSURE can be bottom of the completely filled
measured by either;
water tank with a radius of 0.2 m
Gauge Pressure and height of 1 m.
– the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure.

𝑃 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒 =𝑃 𝑎𝑏𝑠 + 𝑃 𝑎 𝑡𝑚
where:
Example 7:
In a huge oil tanker, salt water has flooded an oil tank to a depth of
h2 = 5.00 m. On top of the water is a layer of oil h1 = 8.00 m deep, as
in the cross-sectional view of the tank in the figure below. The oil
has a density of 0.700 g/cm3. Find the pressure at the bottom of the
tank. (Take 1,030 kg/m3 as the density of salt water.)
Example 8:
Estimate the net force exerted on
your eardrum due to the water
above when you are swimming at
the bottom of a pool that is 5.0 m
deep.
Pascal’s Principle
“A change in pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted
undiminished to every point of the fluid and to the walls of the
container.” – Blaise Pascal

𝑃 1=𝑃 2

𝐹1 𝐹 2
=
𝐴1 𝐴 2
where:
= force applied or force output (N)
= area of the piston (m2)
Example 9:
In a car lift used in a service station, compressed air exerts a force on
a small piston of circular cross section having a radius of r1 = 5.00
cm. This pressure is transmitted by an incompressible liquid to a
second piston of radius r2 = 15.0 cm.
(a) What force must the compressed air exert on the small piston in
order to lift a car weighing 13 300 N?
(b) What air pressure will produce a force of that magnitude?
Archimedes’ Principle
“Any object completely or partially submerged in a fluid is buoyed up
by a force with magnitude equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by
the object.” – Archimedes

The buoyant force is not a

mysterious new force that arises in
fluids. In fact, the physical cause of
the buoyant force is the pressure
difference between the upper and
lower sides of the object, which can
be shown to be equal to the weight
of the displaced fluid.

𝐹 𝐵 =𝜌 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑔 𝑉 𝑠 𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑
Example 10:
A bargain hunter purchases a “gold” crown at a flea market. After
she gets home, she hangs it from a scale and finds its weight to be
7.84 N. She then weighs the crown while it is immersed in water and
now the scale reads 6.86 N. Is the crown made of pure gold?
Example 11:
A raft is constructed of wood having a density of 6.00 x 102 kg/m 3.
Its surface area is 5.70 m2, and its volume is 0.60 m3. When the raft
is placed in fresh water, to what depth h is the bottom of the raft
submerged?