DE PART ME NT O F CIVIL E NGINE E RING

Mechani cs of Fl ui d L aborat ory Manual

E XPE RIME NT 10: DE T E RMINING C E NT E R O F PRE S S URE

IN AN INCL INE D PL ANE

I. O b jecti ves of th e A cti vi ty

a . Det erm i ne t he cent e r of pressur e on an i ncl i ned pl ane of t he
h ydrost at i c p ressur e apparat us; and t h e m om ent arm s of t he
count er wei ght and t he h yd rost at i c for ce
b . C al cul at e t he h ydros t at i c forc e act i n g on an i ncl i ned pl ane a nd
com pare i t wi t h t he val ue t hat can b e co m put e d usi ng t he
h ydrost at i c forc e fo rm ul a

II. Materi al s/ E q u i p me n t
1 uni t H ydro st at i c pressure appa rat us
1 uni t W at er
1 set W ei ght s
III. Pro ced u re
1 . S et t he wat er l ev el vessel t o a desi red a ngl e usi n g t he det en t .

2 . C ount erbal anc e t he uni t wi t h t he rot at i ng sl i der. Th e t op pi n

m ust be preci sel y i n t he m i ddl e of t he hol e.
3 . Fi l l t he vessel wi t h t he desi red am ount of wat er. (Fi rst t hr e e
t ri al s shoul d be bel ow s h
and t he l ast t hree t ri al s shoul d be above s h ).
4 . Mount t he ri d er and set t he l ever arm on t he scal e. At t a ch
wei ght s unt i l t he ap parat us i s bal anc e.
5 . C al cul at e t he h ydros t at i c forc e act i n g on t he i ncl i ned surfa ce
and com par e i t usi ng t he h yd rost at i c for ce form ul a.
I V. Il l u strati on
V. Data an d Resu l ts

T ab l e 10.1: Dat a of hydrost at i c f orces w hen s < s h

T ri al Water ID I W f Actu al f T h eo %
L evel Di f f eren ce
1
2
3

T ab l e 10.2: Dat a of hydrost at i c f orces w hen s > s h

T ri al Water ID I W f Actu al f T h eo %
L evel Di f f eren ce
1
2
3