Experiment No.

5
Determination of Center of Pressure
Objective:
The activity aims to determine the center of pressure of a submerged body and develop professional
work ethics including precision, neatness, safety and ability to follow instructions.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
The students shall be able to:
1. Use the techniques and skills in fluid mechanics to determine the center of pressure of a given submerged
body that will be in equilibrium in water.
2. Apply the techniques and skills acquired relevant to professional engineering practice.
Discussion:

Submerged surfaces are found in many engineering applications. Dams, weirs and water gates are familiar
examples of submerge submerged surface used to control the flow water. From the design viewpoint, it is important
to have a working knowledge of the forces on submerge surfaces.

A plane surface located beneath the surface of a liquid is subjected to a pressure due to the height of liquid
above it, as shown in the figure. Increasing pressure varies linearly with increasing depth resulting in a pressure
distribution that acts on the submerged surface. The analysis of this situation involves determining a force which
is equivalent to the pressure and finding the location of this force.

Pressure distribution on a submerged plane surface and the equivalent force.

For this case, it can be shown that the equivalent force is:

𝐹 = 𝜌𝑔𝑦𝑐 𝐴 (5.1)

In which 𝜌 is the liquid density, 𝑦𝑐 is the distance from the free surface of the liquid to the centroid of the
plane and A is the area of the plane in contact with the liquid.
 Further, the location of this force 𝑦𝑝 below the free surface is

𝐼𝑥𝑥
𝑦𝑝 = + 𝑦𝑐 (5.2)
𝐴𝑦𝑐

𝐼
In which 𝐴𝑦
𝑥𝑥
is called the eccentricity 𝑒.
𝑐

Resources/Instruments Required:

 Hydrostatic Pressure Apparatus

 Set of Weights
 Vernier Caliper
 Pitcher

Procedure:

1. Figure A gives a schematic of the apparatus used in this experiment. The torus and balance arm are
placed on top of the tank. Note that the pivot point for the balance arm is the point of contact between the
rod and the top of the tank. The zeroing weight is adjusted to level the balance arm. The amount of needed
weight and depth of water are then recorded. The procedure is then repeated for four other depths.
(Remember to record the distance from the pivot point to the free surface for each case.)

2. From the depth measurement, the equivalent force and its location are calculated using Equations 5.1 and
5.2. Summing moments about the pivot allows for a comparison between the theoretical and actual force
exerted. Referring to Figure B, we have

𝑊𝐿
𝐹= (5.3)
(𝑦 +𝑦𝑝 )

Where y is the distance from the pivot point to the free surface, 𝑦𝑝 is the distance from the free surface to
the line of action of the force F along the inclination of the plane and L is the distance from the pivot point
to the line of action of the weight W.

Note:
That both curve surfaces of torus are circular with centers at pivot point. For the report, compare the force
obtained with the Equation 5.1 to that obtained with Equation 5.3. When using Equation 5.3, it will be
necessary to use Equation 5.2 for 𝑦𝑝 .
Figure A: Schematic of the apparatus

Figure B: Force Diagram

Data and Results:

Trial Case 𝜽 hp (m) ̅ (m)

𝒉 𝒚𝒑 (m) L (m) W (N) F (N) St (mm) Sh (mm) S (mm)

Formulas:

Case 1: (S < Sh)

𝒉𝒑
̅ = 𝒔−𝒔𝒕
𝒉
𝑺−𝑺
𝒆 = 𝟔 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒕 𝒚𝒑 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽
𝟐 𝒚 𝒚
𝟐 𝑵 𝒔−𝒔𝒕 𝑺−𝑺
𝒉𝒑 = 𝟑 (𝑺 − 𝑺𝒕 ) 𝑭 = (𝟗𝟖𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝟑 ) [𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒕 (𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟓)]
𝟐 𝒚

Case 2: (S > Sh)

(𝟎.𝟏)𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒚 𝒉𝒑
̅ = 𝑺 − 𝑺𝒕 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒚
𝒉 𝒆= 𝒚𝒑 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽
𝟏𝟐𝒉 ̅ 𝒚
𝑵
̅ + 𝒆 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒚
𝒉𝒑 = 𝒉 𝑭 = (𝟗𝟖𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝟑 ) (𝑺 − 𝑺𝒕 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟓 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽𝒚 )[(𝟎. 𝟏)(𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟓)]

Computation:
Observation:

Conclusion:
Documentation: