TUTORIAL 3

FLUID MECHANICS
1. a)

How high is the level of a mercury barometer on a day when atmospheric pressure is
98.6 kPa? (density of mercury = 13.6 x 103 kg/m)

b)

A water hose 2.0 cm in diameter is used to fill a 20 litre bucket. If it takes 1.0 minute to
fill the bucket, what is the speed at which the water leaves the hose? (1 litre = 103cm3)

c)

A solid cube is 0.75 cm on each side. It floats in oil of density 800 kg/m3 with one third of
the block out of the oil. What is the buoyant force on the cube?

2.

(SEPT 2011)

A liquid with the density of 1.65 g/cm3 flows through two horizontal sections of tubing
joined end to end. In the first section where the diameter of the tube is 3.56 cm, the flow
speed is 275 cm/s, and the pressure is 1.20 x 105 Pa. In the second section, the crosssectional area is 2.50 cm2. At the second section, calculate
a) the flow speed ( in m/s)
b) the pressure (water = 1000 kg/m3, air= 1.29 kg/m3)

(OCT 2012)

3. a) State the Archimedes Principle

b) A copper ball with a diameter of 4.0 mm falls vertically into water in container. If the
densities of copper and water are 8900 kg/m3 and 1000 kg/m3 respectively, calculate
i) the weight of the copper ball
ii) the buoyant force acting on the copper ball

(MAR 2013)

4. a) A swimming pool filtration System pumps water at 7800 L per hour. At what speed is the
water moving to and.from the pool pipes, which have an internal diameter of 50 mm?
b) A 275 L iron tank is fully filled with gasoline. When dropped into water, the tank floats.
The volume of water displaced equals the total volume of iron and gasoline. Calculate
the volume of iron used in making the tank. (gasoline= 680 kg/m3, iron= 7800 kg/m3, water=
1000 kg/m3)

(MAR 2012)

5.

Oil flows at a velocity of 1.0 m/s through section X of a circular pipe of diameter 10 cm.
The oil rises 12 m and flows through section Y of the pipe of diameter 5.0 cm as shown
in Figure 4. Determine

i) the volume flow rate and the mass flow rate of the oil at section X.
ii) the velocity of oil at section Y.
iii) the pressure difference in the oil between section X and Y.
Given: density of oil = 850 kg/m3, g = 9.8 m/s2

6.

(APR 2011)

A fishing boat, which is 2 x 105 kg in mass, is moving from the sea to a river before it
anchored. If the density of sea is 1300 kg/m3 and the density of river is 1000 kg/m3,
compute
i) up ward force when it is at the sea.
ii) the volume of the boat which is submerged when it is at the river.

7.

(APR 2010)

Figure 2 shows a block of wood with a volume of 40 cm3 and density of 700 kg/m3 is tied
to the bottom of a container filled with water.
i) Draw a free body diagram representing all the forces acting on the block
ii) Calculate the tension of the spring

block of wood
Figure 2