Engr.

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Fluid Mechanics-I
LECTURE 5

Measurement of pressure 2

 The pressure at a point within a fluid mass will be designated as

either;
1. Absolute pressure
2. Gage pressure
 Absolute pressure is measured relative to a perfect vacuum
(absolute zero pressure)
 Gage pressure is measured relative to the local atmospheric
pressure
 Zero gage pressure = atmospheric pressure

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Measurement of pressure 3

 Atmospheric pressure at mean sea level is 101.325 kPa = 14.7 psi

= 760 mm Hg (considered as standard atmospheric pressure)
 Absolute pressures are always positive.
 Gage pressure can be either positive or negative depending on
whether the pressure is above atmospheric pressure (a positive
value) or below atmospheric pressure (a negative value)

= +
The atmospheric pressure is also called barometric pressure and
varies with the altitude.

Measurement of pressure 4

Graphical representation of gage and absolute pressure.

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Barometer 5

 The measurement of atmospheric pressure is usually

accomplished with a mercury barometer.
 It consists of a glass tube closed at one end with the open end
immersed in a container of mercury as shown in figure on next
slide
 The tube is initially filled with mercury (inverted with its open end
up) and then turned upside down (open end down), with the open
end in the container of mercury.

Barometer 6

 The column of mercury will

come to an equilibrium position
where its weight plus the force
due to the vapor pressure
(which develops in the space
above the column) balances the
force due to the atmospheric
pressure.
 Thus
= ℎ+
Where is the specific weight of
mercury
Mercury barometer

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Barometer 7

 For most practical purposes the contribution of the vapor

pressure can be neglected since it is very small.
 for mercury, = . psi(abs) at temperature of 68°F.
 So,
=
 It is conventional to specify atmospheric pressure in terms of the
height, h, in millimetres or inches of mercury.
 Note that if water were used instead of mercury, the height of the
column would have to be approximately 34 ft rather than 29.9 in.
of mercury for an atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psia

Barometer 8

 Example:

 A mountain lake has an average temperature of 10°C and a

maximum depth of 40 m. The barometric pressure is 598 mm Hg.

 Determine the absolute pressure (in pascals) at the deepest part

of the lake.
= 133 /

= 9.804 10℃

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Manometry 9

 A standard technique for measuring pressure involves the use of

liquid columns in vertical or inclined tubes.
 Pressure measuring devices based on this technique are called
manometers.
 The mercury barometer is an example of one type of manometer.
 Three common types of manometers include;
1. Piezometer tube
2. U-tube manometer
3. Inclined-tube manometer

Piezometer tube 10

 The simplest type of

manometer consists of a
vertical tube, open at the top,
and attached to the container in
which the pressure is desired
as shown below.
 The fundamental equation for
manometers is;
 = +

10

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Piezometer tube 11

 The pressure at point A can be determined by measurement of

through the relationship;
=
 As is taken zero in above equation, it means we are measuring gage
pressure.
 piezometer tube has several disadvantages.
1. It is only suitable if the pressure in the container is greater than
atmospheric pressure.
2. The pressure to be measured must be relatively small so the required
height of the column is reasonable.
3. The fluid in the container in which the pressure is to be measured must
be a liquid rather than a gas

11

U-tube manometer 12

 To overcome the difficulties

stated previously, another type
of manometer which is widely
used consists of a tube formed
into the shape of a U as shown
in figure.
 The fluid in the manometer is
called the gage fluid.

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U-tube manometer 13

 To find the pressure in terms

of the various column heights,
we start at one end of the
system and work our way
around to the other end.
 The pressure at points A and (1)
are the same, and as we move
from point (1) to (2) the
pressure will increase by ℎ .

13

U-tube manometer 14

 The pressure at point (2) is

equal to the pressure at point
(3), since the pressures at
equal elevations in a continuous
mass of fluid at rest must be the
same.
 As we move upward from point
(3), the pressure decreases by
an amount ℎ .
 The pressure at open end is
zero.

14

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U-tube manometer 15

 These steps in equation form are as given below;

+ ℎ − ℎ =0
= ℎ − ℎ

15

U-tube manometer(Example) 16

 A closed tank contains

compressed air and oil
(SGoil=0.90) as shown in figure.
A U-tube manometer using
mercury (SGHg=13.6) is
connected to the tank. The
column heights are h1=36 in.,
h2=6 in., and h3=9 in.
 Determine the pressure reading
(in psi) of the gage.

16

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U-tube manometer 17

 The U-tube manometer is also

widely used to measure the
difference in pressure between
two containers or two points in a
given system.

+ ℎ − ℎ − ℎ =

− = ℎ + ℎ − ℎ

17

Inclined tube manometer 18

 To measure small pressure changes, a manometer of the type

shown in figure below is frequently used.
 One leg of the manometer is inclined at an angle θ and the
differential reading l2 is measured along the inclined tube.

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Inclined tube manometer 19

 The difference in pressure can be expressed as;

+ ℎ − − ℎ =
− = + ℎ − ℎ

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Mechanical and electronic 20

pressure measuring devices

 Manometers are not suitable for measuring high
pressures or rapid pressure changes.
 In addition, they require measurement of one or more
column heights, which may be time consuming.
 To overcome these difficulties, various mechanical and
electronic devices have been developed to measure the
pressure.
 Most of these make use of the idea that, when pressure
acts on an elastic structure, the structure will deform.

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Mechanical and electronic 21

pressure measuring devices

 This deformation can be related to magnitude of
pressure.
 One of the such types of pressure measuring devices is
“Bourdon gage”.
 The essential mechanical element in this gage is the
hollow, elastic curved tube (Bourdon tube) which is
connected to the pressure source as shown in figure on
next page

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Mechanical and electronic 22

pressure measuring devices

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