Fluid Mechanics -

Hydrostatics
 Hydrostatics

Hydrostatics is a branch of fluid mechanics that deals

with the study of fluids at rest.
States of Matter

Before we begin to understand the nature of a Fluid we must understand

the nature of all the states of matter:
The 3 primary states of matter
- solid - Definite shape and volume.
- liquid -Takes the shape of its container, yet has a definite volume.
- gas - Takes the shape and volume of its container.
- Special state
-Plasma is superheated matter – forming an ionized gas .
Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) is a reverse of plasma state, where
matter is subjected to very low temperature near absolute zero.
 Why fluids are useful in
physics?
Typically, liquids are considered to be incompressible. That is once you place a liquid in a
sealed container you can DO WORK on the FLUID as if it were an object. The PRESSURE
you apply is transmitted throughout the liquid and over the entire length of the fluid itself.
 Hydrostatic
Pressure
Suppose a Fluid (such as a liquid) is at REST, we call this HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
Two important points
• A fluid will exert a pressure in all directions
• A fluid will exert a pressure perpendicular to any surface it contacts

Notice that the arrows on TOP of the objects are smaller than at the BOTTOM. This is because
pressure is greatly affected by the DEPTH of the object. Since the bottom of each object is
deeper than the top the pressure is greater at the bottom.
 Properties of
fluids
Properties of fluids determine how fluids can be used in engineering and
technology. Properties of Fluids also determine the behaviour of fluids in fluid
mechanics. The following are some of the important basic properties of fluids:
Density
Viscosity
Temperature
Pressure
Specific Volume
Specific Weight
Specific Gravity
Densit
y The 3 primary states have a distinct density, which is defined as
mass per unit of volume.

Density is
represented by the
Greek letter, “RHO”,

 Properties of
fluids
Density:
Density is the mass per unit volume of a fluid. In other words, it is the ratio between mass (m) and
volume (V) of a fluid.
Density is denoted by the symbol ‘ρ’. Its unit is kg/m3.

In general, density of a fluid decreases with increase in temperature. It increases with increase in
pressure.
The above equation is used to find the density of any fluid, if the pressure (P) and temperature (T) are
known.
Note: The density of standard liquid (water) is 1000 kg/m3.
 Exampl
A waterebed is 2.0 m on a side an 30.0 cm deep.
(a) Find its weight if the density of water is 1000 kg/m3.
(b) Find the pressure the that the water bed exerts on the floor. Assume that the entire lower
surface of the bed makes contact with the floor.

a) V  2  2  0.30 1.2 m3


m m 1200 kg
  V  1000  
11760 N F mg 11760 N
b) P   
V A A 4 m2  2940 N/m2

W  mg 
Exampl
e
A golden-colored cube is handed to you. The person wants you to buy it for $100,
saying that is a gold nugget. You pull out your old geology text and look up gold
in the mineral table, and read that its density is 19.3 g/cm3. You measure the cube
and find that it is 2 cm on each side, and weighs 40 g. What is its density? Is it
gold? Should you buy it?
Solutio
n

Thus the cube is NOT gold, since the density (5.0

g/cm3) is not the same as gold (19.3g/cm3).
Problem # 2
A solid ball has a mass of 100 grams and a radius of 2 cm. What is the density? (Answer:
2.98 g/cm3) V = 4/3 πr³.

Problem # 3

A solid cylinder has a radius of 2 cm and a length of 7 cm. It has a density of 3.1 g/cm3. What
is the mass of the cylinder? (Answer: 272.69 grams- V=πr2h)
Viscosity
Viscosity is the fluid property that determines the amount of resistance of
the fluid to shear stress.
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow.
It can also be described in terms of a fluid's thickness.
It describes the internal friction of a moving fluid.
It is the property of the fluid due to which the fluid offers resistance to flow
of one layer of the fluid over another adjacent layer.
In a liquid, viscosity decreases with increase in temperature. In a gas,
viscosity increases with increase in temperature
F

where η is a constant known as the coefficient  dv 
A  
of viscosity, measured in Nsm-2  dx 
dv/dx is called velocity gradient,
F is force and A is area.
Viscosity types
Viscosity is the measure of fluid’s friction to its flow, there are two ways to measure the
fluid’s viscosity as follows:
-Dynamic Viscosity (Absolute Viscosity): The measurement of fluid’s resistance to flow
when an external force is applied is known as Dynamic Viscosity
-Kinematic Viscosity : The measurement of fluid’s resistance under the influence of
gravitational force is called kinetic viscosity. It is defined as the ratio of dynamic viscosity
to density. (m²/sec)
.
Pressure

One of most important applications of a fluid is it's pressure.

When a force F acts perpendicular to a surface of area A, the pressure p
exerted on the surface is defined as the force per unit area.
Pressure is a scalar quantity. The SI unit of pressure is N/m2

In terms of density pressure

P  hg
 Pressure
Atmospheric Pressure
Surrounding the earth is a layer of air consisting of a mixture of gases called the
atmosphere. The earth retains its atmosphere because of the pull of gravity on the
air molecules. The pressure exerted by the atmosphere is called atmospheric
pressure.
Atmospheric pressure is measured using a barometer. A barometer is an
instrument for measuring the pressure of air.
Gauge pressure
Gauge pressure is pressure above atmospheric pressure i.e pressure due to liquid only.

Absolute pressure means Total Pressure = Atmospheric Pressure + Gauge Pressure e.g.
to calculate the total or absolute pressure at a depth h (m) in the ocean we would have to
add the atmospheric pressure to the pressure due to the height h (m) of water.

What is directly determined is the difference between the unknown pressure and
atmospheric pressure. This difference is the gauge pressure (static pressure), whereas the
true pressure is called the absolute pressure.
P = Pgauge + Patm
Absolute pressure = gauge pressure + atmospheric pressure
When a gauge is used to measure pressure, it measures the gauge pressure.
 Exampl
ethehatbrain
W is the difference between the hydrostatic pressure of blood between
and the soles of the feet of a person whose height 165 cm (suppose
the density of blood = 1.0 × 103 kg/m3, acceleration due to gravity = 10 m/s2)
Solutio
neight (h) = 165 cm = 165/100 m = 1.65 meters
H
Density of bloods (ρ) = 1.0 × 103 kg/m3
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 10 m/s2
Pressure =?
 Properties of
fluids
Pressure:
Pressure of a fluid is the force per unit area of the fluid. In other words, it is the ratio
of force on a fluid to the area of the fluid held perpendicular to the direction of the
force.
Pressure is denoted by the letter ‘P’. Its unit is N/m2.
Properties of
fluids
Specific Volume:
Specific volume is the volume of a fluid (V) occupied per unit mass (m). It is the
reciprocal of density.
Specific volume is denoted by the symbol ‘v’. Its unit is m3/kg.
 Properties of
fluids
Specific Weight:
Specific weight is the weight possessed by unit volume of a fluid. It is denoted by
‘w’. Its unit is N/m3.
Specific weight varies from place to place due to the change of acceleration due to
gravity (g).
Properties of
fluids
Specific Gravity:
Specific gravity is the ratio of specific weight of the given fluid to the specific weight
of standard fluid. It is denoted by the letter ‘S’. It has no unit.

Specific gravity may also be defined as the ratio between density of the given fluid
to the density of standard fluid.
Exampl
eg/cm . What is the specific gravity of your granite?
You have a sample of granite with density 2.8 g/cm . The density of water is 1.0
3
3
A poise is the centimetre-gram-
second (cgs) unit of viscosity.
Pressure vs.
Depth Fatm Suppose we had an object submerged in
water with the top part touching the
atmosphere. If we were to draw an FBD
for this object we would have three
forces
1. The weight of the object
2. The force of the atmosphere pressing
mg
down
Fwater
3. The force of the water pressing up

Fwater= Fatm + mg
Pressure vs.
Depth
But recall, pressure is force per unit area. So if we solve for
force we can insert our new equation in.

P A
F water  Fatm 
mg Note: The initial pressure in
F
PA  Po A  this case is atmospheric
mg pressure, which is a
m CONSTANT. Po=1x10 5 N/m2
V  m  V
is measured with a barometer.
PA  Po A  Vg
V  Ah
PA  Po A 
  Po  gh
PAhg
 A closer look at Pressure vs.
Depth
P  Po 
Depth below surface

gh
Initial Pressure – May or MAY NOT be atmospheric pressure
ABSOLUTE PRESSURE

P  gh
Gauge Pressure = CHANGE in pressure or the DIFFERENCE in the initial and absolute pressure
 Pressure Measuring
Devices
Pressure can be measured using barometer, manometer, or the Bourdon tube. Apart from
the simple barometer, there are two other main types of barometers: (i) Fortin barometer
and (ii) Aneroid barometer.
 Manometer
A manometer is a U-shaped tube partially filled with a liquid, as shown in the figure. Two
different pressures p1 and p2 are applied to the two legs of the tube, causing the two
liquid columns to have different heights h1 and h2.

Let p0 be the pressure at some point of the tube (at the

bottom for instance) by applying the equation P = Po +pgh
P 1  P 0   h1 g
P 2  P 0   h2 g
If we equate the two pressures and take their difference. The
pressures in terms of the liquid height difference.

If tube 1 is left open to the atmosphere, so that p1 = patm , then p2 can

be measured as
 Exampl
ethe densitythe
a)Calculate absolute pressure at an ocean depth of 1000 m. Assume that
of water is 1000 kg/m and that P = 1.01 x 10 Pa (N/m ).
3 5 2
o

b)Calculate the total force exerted on the outside of a 30.0 cm diameter

circular submarine window at this depth.
F
P A
d 2
P  Po  gh where A 
4
 0.07

P  1x10 5  (1000)(9.8) F

F 
A 0.07
(1000)
P  9.9x106 N/m2 F  PA  9.9x106 x0.07  6.93x105 N
6.93 x 105 N
Exampl
eA U pipe is initially filled with water one side and oil on
the other side, as shown in the figure below. The density of
water is 1000 kg/m3. If the height of oil is 8 cm and the
height of the water is 5 cm, what is the density of oil?
Solutio
n
Density of water = 1000 kg.m-3
The height of water (h1) = 5 cm
The height of oil (h2) = 8 cm
density of oil =?
ρ1 g h1 =ρ2 g h2
ρ1 h1 =ρ2 h2
(1000)(5) =
(ρ2)(8)
5000 = (ρ2)(8)
ρ2 = 625 kg.m-3
 Pascal’s
Pascal’sPrinciple
principle states that the pressure applied to a fluid in a closed container is
transmitted equally to all points in the fluid and act in all directions of the container.
Also, it can be stated that any external pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted
undiminished or evenly to every point in the fluid and to the walls of its container. Hydraulic
press and lift are good practical applications of this principle.

From the principle of equilibrium, the mechanical advantage (MA) of the press is
 Pascal’s Principle
example
The hydraulic lift has a large cross section and a small cross section. Large
cross-sectional area is 20 times the small cross-sectional area. If on the small
cross section is given an input force of 25 N, then determine the output
force.

Small cross section area (A1) = A

Large cross-sectional area (A2) = 20A
Input force (F1) = 25 N
Output force (F2)=?
 Exampl
Tewo pistons of a hydraulic lift have diameters of 60 cm and 5 cm. What is the
force exerted by the larger piston when 50 N is placed on the smaller piston?
Solutio
n
 Buoyanc
Whenyan object is immersed partially or fully in a fluid, such as a liquid, it is buoyed
UPWARD by a force called the BUOYANT FORCE.

When an object is placed in fluid it DISPLACES a certain

amount of fluid. If the object is completely submerged, the
VOLUME of the OBJECT is EQUAL to the VOLUME of FLUID it
displaces.

e.g: people swim,

ships float, and hot
air or helium-filled
balloon rise through
the atmosphere
 Archimedes'
It states that when a body is partially or wholly immersed in a fluid, it experiences an upward
Principle
thrust equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by it and its upthrust acts through the centre
of gravity of the liquid displaced.
" An object is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced."

In the figure, we see that the difference

between the weight in AIR and the weight
in WATER is 3 lbs. This is the buoyant
force that acts upward to cancel out part
of the force. If you were to weight the
water displaced it also would weigh 3 lbs.
Archimedes'
Principle
upthrust or buoyant force = weight of liquid displaced.

FB  (mg)FLUID m 
F  V
B

(Vg)Fluid

V V
 Law of
floatation
It is well-known that boats, ships, and some wooden objects move on the upper part of the
water, we say they float.
Floatation can be defined as the tendency of an object to rise up to the upper levels of the
fluid or to stay on the surface of the fluid.
The law of floatation states that a body will float in a liquid if the weight of the liquid
displaced by the immersed part of the body equals the weight of the body. Or a floating
body displaces its own weight of fluid in which it floats.
weight of floating body = weight of liquid displace by the body
For example, a wooden object weighs 300 kg (about 3000 N) floats in water displaces 300
kg (about 3000 N) of water.
From this principle, it follows that:
(i)An object will float in a fluid if the average density of the object is less than the density of
the fluid.
(ii)An object will sink in a fluid if the average density of the object is greater than the
density of the fluid.
(iii) An object will be in equilibrium at any submerged depth in a fluid if the average
densities of the object and fluid are equal.
 Exampl
e
A cube of wood floating in water supports a 300 g mass at the centre of its top
face. When the mass is removed, the cube rises by 3 cm. Determine the volume of
the cube.
Solutio
n
Example
1
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 in air to be 7.84 N. She then weighs the crown
while it is immersed in water (density of water is 1000 kg/m3) and now the scale reads
6.86 N. Is the crown made of pure gold if the density of gold is 19.3 x 103 kg/m3?
Solution
1

NO! This is NOT gold as 8000<19300

 Example
2
A U-shaped tube open to the air at both ends contains some mercury. A quantity of water is
carefully poured into the left arm of the U-shaped tube until the vertical height of the water
column is 15cm.
(a) What is the gauge pressure at the water-mercury interface?
(b)Calculate the vertical distance h from the top of the mercury in the righthand arm of the
tube to the top of the water in the left-hand arm.
Solution
2
 Exampl
e
1. The pressure inside a tank is 4.2atm at sea level. What is the gauge pressure inside the tank.
2. A tyre gauge measures the pressure of a tyre to be 325kPa. What is the absolute pressure inside the
tyre at sea level.
3.A diver is currently located at a depth of 50m in the ocean. (a) What is the gauge pressure at this
point. (b) what is the absolute pressure (density of seawater =1025kg/m3).
4.A closed rectangular container with dimensions 4m x 5m x 6m is filled with water. What is the
pressure exerted by the water on the bottom face of the container.
5.A closed cylindrical container is filled with a fluid that has a specific gravity of 1.7. What is the
pressure exerted by the fluid at a depth f 15m?
6.the height of oil and water are 8cm and 15cm in a container where the oil is on top of the water. The
container is opened to the atmosphere (a)what is the gauge and absolute pressure for the oil-water
interface (b) what is the gauge and absolute pressure at the bottom.(p = 750kg/m3)
 Example
3
A manometer tube is partially filled with water. Oil (which does not mix with water) is
poured into the left arm of the tube until the oil-water interface is at the midpoint of the
tube as shown. Both arms of the tube are open to the air. Find a relationship between the
heights hoil and hwater. (density for water 1000kg/m3 and oil 850 kg/m3).
Solution
3
 Example
4
A liquid whose density is not known and which does not mix with mercury is poured into
one arm of a U-tube that is partially filled with mercury. The free ends of the mercury and
of the liquid are respectively at 6.0 cm and 31.2 cm from the bottom of the tube. Given
that the common surface of the liquid and mercury is at 4.0 cm above the bottom of the
tube and that the density of mercury is 13.6 x 103 kg/m3 , calculate the relative density of
the liquid.
Solution
4
Example
5
The input and output pistons of hydraulic jack are respectively 1 cm and 4 cm in
diameter. A lever with a mechanical advantage of 6 is used to apply force to the
input piston. How much mass can the jack lift if a force of 180 N is applied to the
lever and friction is negligible in the system?
Solution
T5
he mechanical advantage of the jack is
 Example
6
An iceberg is a chunk of freshwater ice that has broken from an ice cap. Find the
proportion of the volume of an iceberg that is submerged. Densities of ice and
seawater are 9.2x102 kg/m3 and 1.03x103 kg/m3 .
Solution
6
Example
7
A bracelet that appears to be gold (density of gold is 19g/cm3 ) is suspended
from a spring balance that reads 50 g in air and 46 g when it is immersed in a
glass of water. Is the bracelet gold?
Solution
7
 Example
8
The mass of an object in air is 50 g and it appears to have a mass of 35 g when immersed in
water. Calculate:
(i) relative density of the substance and
(ii) the density of the substance
(iii)If the same object appears to have a mass of 40 g when it is placed in a second fluid
calculate the relative density and density of the fluid.
Solution
8
Example
9
A solid cube of material is 0.75 cm on each edge. It floats in oil of density 800 kg / m3
with one third of the block out of the oil. Calculate
(i) the Upthrust force on the cube and
(ii) the density of the material of the cube.
Solution
9
 Example
10
A person has a weight of 667 N and a density of 980 kg / m3 can just float in water
with his head above the surface with the aid of a life jacket which is wholly immersed
in the water. Assuming that the volume of its head is 1/15 th of his whole volume and
the relative density of the life jacket is 0.25. calculate the volume of the jacket.
Solution
10
Example
11
The weight of a 1000-kg car is supported equally by its four tyres. The gauge
pressure of each of the tyre is 1.8 x 105 N/m2 . Find the area of each tyre that is
in contact with the ground.
Solution
11
Example
12
An ore sample weighs 17.50 N in air. When the sample is suspended by a light
cord and totally immersed in water, the tension in the cord is 11.20 N. Calculate
the total volume and the density of the sample.
Solution
12
Example
13
An irregularly shaped piece of metal has a weight of 0.882 N. It is suspended
from a scale which reads 0.735 N when the piece is submerged in water.
Determine:
(a) the upthrust in water
(b) the volume of the piece of metal
(c) the density of the metal.
(Take the density of water and acceleration due to gravity to be 1000 kg/m3
and
9.8 m/s2 respectively).
Solution
13
Example
14
An object weighing 300 N in air is immersed in water after being tied a string
attached to a balance. The scale now reads 265 N. Immersed in oil, the object
appears to weigh 276 N. Calculate
(a) the density of the object;
(b) the density of the oil.
Solution
14