Practice #1: Hydrostatic

Forces
Hydraulics Lab

Professor: Jose Manuel Molano Martínez

Ana Fernanda González – A01363861

Jonathan Álvarez Suárez – A01204937
Rogelio Tovar Medel - A01701398
Alonso García Roa – A01207701
 Campus Querétaro

HYDRAULICS LAB

PRACTICE 1. Hydrostatic Forces

Objective:

To compare the theoretical determination and experimental values of hydrostatic thrust.

Introduction:

The hydrostatic force at any curved surface is normal to the surface and revolves through the pivot
point. Hence, hydrostatic forces on the upper and lower curved surfaces have no net effect (no
torque) to affect the equilibrium of the apparatus. The horizontal forces on the sides of the
quadrant are opposite and equal, therefore cancel out.

The hydrostatic force on the vertical submerged face is counteracted by the balance weight we
add on the balance. Therefore the resultant hydrostatic force on the quadrant can be calculated
from the value of the balance weight and the depth of water.

h’
d

From a moments analysis, when the system is at equilibrium, we get:

𝑚𝑔𝐿 = 𝐹ℎ

Therefore, the experimental force can be determined by the following equation:

𝑚𝑔𝐿
𝐹=
ℎ

The theoretical force will be different if the quadrant is fully submerged or not (derivation of
equations omitted):

Fully submerged:
𝐹 = 𝜌𝑔𝐴ℎ′

Partially submerged
1
𝐹 = 𝜌𝑔𝐵𝑑2
2

2 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

Where:

F = Hydrostatic thrust (N)

A = area of the quadrant (area perpendicular to the face shown in figure) (m2)
h' = depth of water to the center of pressure WHEN QUADRANT FULLY SUBMERGED (m)
d = depth of water immersion WHEN QUADRANT PARTIALLY SUBMERGED (m)
B = width of the quadrant (perpendicular to the shown figure) (m)
ρ = density of fluid (kg/m3)

Procedure:

1. Take measurements of the apparatus used, specially the area of the quadrant face
2. Add small mass to the weight hanger
3. Add water until attaining an equilibrium in the balance scale
4. Record mass and height of water
5. Continue adding water and weight until reaching close to the top take at least 6
measurements
6. Repeat the process in reverse order (removing water by opening valve) take at least 6
measurements

3 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

Report

Report for each measurement the data requested on the following table (total 12 measurements).
Ensure you use the right equation for the theoretical force (fully or partially submerged).

The first 6 readings from the following table will correspond to the “partially submerged” case,
while the following are consistent with the “fully submerged” cases (Figure 1.).

Figure 1. Results from in-site measurements.

4 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

Figure 2. Percentage of deviation between theoretical and experimental values.

It's worth noting that, from the previous table (Figure 2.) regarding the deviation rate between the
measurements and the theoretical force calculated by the formulas given on the present
document, the values skyrocket on the “totally submerged” case as the mathematical analysis
made to get such numbers came from the assumption that the hydrostatic force behaved as a
two-dimentional rectangle, instead of a trapezoid. This was made in order to make the calculations
easier, and serving as an example of the real world applications in which the rectangle of such
shape would increase in size the deeper you go, but the value of the triangle remains as a
constant, and decreases the proportion of its action on an equal way.

The spreadsheet from the previous calculations, given that they have been attached as a picture,
can be found at the following link providing the password “Practice1” with capital letter “P” and no
space, where the document has the permissions set so that anyone with the previous password
and the web address can edit its content.

https://tecmx-
my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/a01207701_itesm_mx/ETqHQlxCte9OqoTOmEOlT2gBnu9ov
X9K5EaQ293UPXi-2A?e=Y66uUB
Attachment 1. Practice 1 spreadsheet.

5 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

1. Explain why we use only the effect of pressure on one side of the apparatus to
measure the force and not the forces at all planes.

The hydrostatic force on the horizon plane on a curved surface is normal to the area and
passes through the pivot point, this means there will not be any moment that affects the
equilibrium. In the plane surface the forces will be cancelled, because they have the same
magnitude, but they are opposite.

2. Is there a difference in evaluating the forces if the level of water increases or

decreases? Why?

There shouldn’t be any difference if the level of the water increases or decreases, because
the force depends on the amount of water that is making pressure against the surface, it
doesn’t matter if you obtain it by increasing the amount of water or by decreasing it.

3. Compare the force obtained experimentally and that obtained from theory.

Comparing the forces, when is partially submerged, the maximum error we obtained was
5% and totally submerged was 14% but as is shown in the tables in this case, the error
decreased as the measures increased, the error was very low, so we can assume that it
could be because of different factors, principally the human factor, for example, all the
values of depth were obtained by a ruler and determined by our perception, another thing
that could affect was that we only had masses of 10g, 20g, 50g and 100g, so we couldn’t
have too much precision.

Another important factor to highlight is that the pressure distribution along the submerged
face of the device used during the experiment was assumed to be rectangular, when in
fact it has the shape of a trapezoid. Such assumption was made since a constant increase
in the water level tends to create a more rectangular distribution, and the error generated
is usually very low, as observed in the results.

6 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

Conclusions:

After analyzing the obtained results, there is no doubt that the objective of the developed
experimental procedure was successfully achieved. Different experimental values of hydrostatic
thrust were obtained and compared with the values calculated with the original theoretical formulas
at different depths, partially and fully submerged. As it can be noticed on the results, 12 different
experimental values were obtained with the help of the hydrostatic pressure apparatus, half
partially submerged and the other half fully submerged. All results were compared directly with
the theoretical value calculated with the proper formula.

In average, for the partially submerged results, the error is around 3%, having a maximum of 5%
in one case and a minimum of 2%, all acceptable values. Fully submerged results had higher error
rates though, reaching an average of 13% error with a maximum of 14% and a minimum of 12%.
All these errors were generated for a variety of reasons, including both systematic and random
errors. Systematic errors include the lack of precision in some of the instruments used, while
random errors include the inability to read adequately the instruments used to measure depths
and lengths. In the case of the high rate of error for the fully submerged results, it is also worth
mentioning that such error was higher in comparison to the partially submerged errors since it was
assumed that the hydrostatic pressure had a rectangular distribution rather than one with the
shape of an inverted trapezoid. This was made only to simplify calculations.

Nonetheless, the average error in each case is relatively low, and therefore the obtained results
prove that the original theoretical formulas are indeed correct. It is important though to
comprehend that the final objective was not to only compare and prove the theory, but rather
understand its roots as well as the behavior of pressure in water and its constant variation with
depth.

7 Practice from Armfield Manual

 Campus Querétaro

Evaluation

PRÁCTICA 1. FUERZAS HIDROSTÁTICAS

Rúbrica de Evaluación

Realizó al Realizó al
Realizó los 12 Realizó menos No realizó un
menos 8 menos 4
cálculos de 4 cálculos cálculo
cálculos cálculos
correctamente correctamente correctamente
correctamente correctamente
40 puntos 10 puntos 0 puntos
30 puntos 20 puntos

Respondió No Respondió correctamente

correctamente la pregunta 1 la pregunta 1
10 puntos 0 puntos

Respondió No Respondió correctamente

correctamente la pregunta 2 la pregunta 2
10 puntos 0 puntos

Respondió No Respondió correctamente

correctamente la pregunta 3 la pregunta 3
20 puntos 0 puntos

Realizó Realizó
Realizó
Realizó conclusiones conclusiones Realizó
conclusiones
conclusiones poco poco conclusiones
poco
objetivas, objetivas, objetivas, sin subjetivas, sin
objetivas,
comparando comparando comparar comparar
comparando
resultados resultados resultados resultados
resultados
obtenidos, y obtenidos, y obtenidos, y obtenidos, y
obtenidos, y
demostró demostró demostró no demostró
demostró
aprendizaje poco poco aprendizaje
aprendizaje
del objetivo de aprendizaje aprendizaje del objetivo
del objetivo de
la práctica del objetivo de del objetivo de la práctica
la práctica
la práctica de la práctica
20 puntos 0 puntos
15 puntos
10 puntos 5 puntos

8 Practice from Armfield Manual