Chapter 12 Hydrostatic

DISCUSSION AND DERIVATION OF

FORMULAS IN FLUIDS
Fluid
Matter most commonly exists as a solid, liquid, or gas; these states are
known as the three common phases of matter. Solids have a definite
shape and a specific volume, liquids have a definite volume but their
shape changes depending on the container in which they are held, and
gases have neither a definite shape nor a specific volume as their
molecules move to fill the container in which they are held. (See Figure
11.2.) Liquids and gases are considered to be fluids because they yield to
shearing forces, whereas solids resist them. Note that the extent to which
fluids yield to shearing forces (and hence flow easily and quickly) depends
on a quantity called the viscosity which is discussed in detail in Viscosity
and Laminar Flow; Poiseuilles Law. We can understand the phases of
matter and what constitutes a fluid by considering the forces between
atoms that make up matter in the three phases.

Figure 11.2 (a) Atoms in a solid always have the same neighbors, held near
home by forces represented here by springs. These atoms are essentially in
contact with one another. A rock is an example of a solid. This rock retains its
shape because of the forces holding its atoms together. (b) Atoms in a liquid are
also in close contact but can slide over one another. Forces between them
strongly resist attempts to push them closer together and also hold them in
close contact. Water is an example of a liquid. Water can flow, but it also
remains in an open container because of the forces between its atoms. (c)
Atoms in a gas are separated by distances that are considerably larger than the
size of the atoms themselves, and they move about freely. A gas must be held in
a closed container to prevent it from moving out freely.

Atoms in solids are in close contact, with forces between them that
allow the atoms to vibrate but not to change positions with neighboring
atoms. (These forces can be thought of as springs that can be stretched
or compressed, but not easily broken.) Thus a solid resists all types of
stress. A solid cannot be easily deformed because the atoms that make
up the solid are not able to move about freely. Solids also resist
compression, because their atoms form part of a lattice structure in which
the atoms are a relatively fixed distance apart. Under compression, the
atoms would be forced into one another. Most of the examples we have
studied so far have involved solid objects which deform very little when
stressed.

HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
Hydrostatic Pressure - due to a column of fluid of height h and mass
density

is
P=

DENSITY

gh

Density is mass per unit volume.

=

m
V

where:
is the symbol for density;
m is the mass; and
V is the volume occupied by the substance.
The SI Unit of density is the kg m-3.
RELATIVE DENSITY
Relative Density of a substance is the ratio of the density of the
substance to the density of a substance taken as standard. Solids and
liquids are referred to water as standard.

Relative Density of a body =

density of body

=
density of water H O
2

mass of body
mass of equal volume water

weight of body
weight of equal volume water at the same place

Relative density is a ration and is thus a pure number without a units.

Because the relative density of water is 1, the density of any substance
in kg m-3 is its relative density multiplied by 103. So,
Relative density of mercury = 13.6
Therefore, the relative density of mercury = 13.6 x 103 kg m-3

 MANOMETER

Figure 11.16 An open-tube manometer has one side open to the atmosphere. (a) Fluid depth must be the same on both
sides, or the pressure each side exerts at the bottom will be unequal and there will be flow from the deeper side. (b) A
positive gauge pressure Pg = hg transmitted to one side of the manometer can support a column of fluid of height h . (c)
Similarly, atmospheric pressure is greater than a negative gauge pressure Pg by an amount hg . The jars rigidity
prevents atmospheric pressure from being transmitted to the peanuts.

Consider the U-shaped tube shown in Figure 11.16, for example. This
simple tube is called a manometer. Mercury manometers are often used
to measure arterial blood pressure. An inflatable cuff is placed on the
upper arm as shown in Figure 11.17. By squeezing the bulb, the person
making

the

measurement

exerts

pressure,

which

is

transmitted

undiminished to both the main artery in the arm and the manometer.
When this applied pressure exceeds blood pressure, blood flow below the
cuff is cut off. The person making the measurement then slowly lowers
the applied pressure and listens for blood flow to resume. Blood pressure
pulsates because of the pumping action of the heart, reaching a
maximum, called systolic pressure, and a minimum, called diastolic
pressure, with each heartbeat. Systolic pressure is measured by noting
the value of h when blood flow first begins as cuff pressure is lowered.
Diastolic pressure is measured by noting h when blood flows without
interruption. The typical blood pressure of a young adult raises the
mercury to a height of 120 mm at systolic and 80 mm at diastolic. This is
commonly quoted as 120 over 80, or 120/80. The first pressure is
representative of the maximum output of the heart; the second is due to

the elasticity of the arteries in maintaining the pressure between beats.

The density of the mercury fluid in the manometer is 13.6 times greater
than water, so the height of the fluid will be 1/13.6 of that in a water
manometer. This reduced height can make measurements difficult, so
mercury manometers are used to measure larger pressures, such as blood
pressure. The density of mercury is such that 1.0 mm Hg = 133 Pa.

BOYLES LAW
Boyles Law states that when the temperature is kept constant, the
volume of a given mass of an ideal gas varies inversely as the pressure to
which it is subjected; therefore the product Pressure x Volume of a given
mass of gas remains constant. Thus for a given mass of an ideal gas,

ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE
PV =constant (at constant temperature )
A body wholly or partly immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal
to the weight of the fluid it displaces. The buoyant force can be
considered to act vertically upward through the center of gravity of the
displaced fluid.
FB=buoyant force=weight of displaced fluid

The buoyant force on an object of volume V that is totally immersed in

a fluid of density
Vg, where

is

Vg, and the weight of the object is

is the density of the object. Therefore, the net upward

force on the submerged object is

Fnet (upward) = Vg (

f o

PASCALS PRINCIPLE
What happens to a pressure in an enclosed fluid? Since atoms in a fluid
are free to move about, they transmit the pressure to all parts of the fluid
and to the walls of the container. Remarkably, the pressure is transmitted
undiminished. This phenomenon is called Pascals principle, because it
was first clearly stated by the French philosopher and scientist Blaise
Pascal (16231662): A change in pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is
transmitted undiminished to all portions of the fluid and to the walls of its
container.
Pascals principle, an experimentally verified fact, is what makes pressure
so important in fluids. Since a change in pressure is transmitted
undiminished in an enclosed fluid, we often know more about pressure
than other physical quantities in fluids. Moreover, Pascals principle
implies that the total pressure in a fluid is the sum of the pressures from
different sources. We shall find this factthat pressures addvery useful.