School of Engineering and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department

General Civil Engineering

Experiment No. 3 – Hydraulics Laboratory 1

Objective After this chapter, the student should be able to:

 Established the relationship between the specific weight and
pressure exerted by a liquid.

Content This chapter focuses on

 Measurement of specific weight and pressure intensity of
liquids

Related These are supplemental content necessary for this chapter

 Engineering Fluid Mechanics 9th Edition by Roberson
Readings

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids

MEASUREMENT OF SPECIFIC WEIGHT AND PRESSURE INTENSITY OF LIQUIDS

Pressure, ρ (rho), is defined as the force divided by the area where force is applied. It is measured
in N/m2 or Pascal (SI) and in lb. /in2 or psi (FPS). Pressure is also known as the stress applied in a
particular area.
Since the force applied by a liquid to an area or surface is not readily attainable or visible, it is
necessary that we translate the formula of pressure to something that can be easily attained or
measured. The transformation is as follows:

But the force exerted by a liquid in its container is its weight. Therefore F=W where W or the
weight is equal to the unit weight of the liquid multiplied by the volume of the liquid or = ωV.
The volume is equal to the cross-sectional area or base area of the container multiplied by the
height of liquid in it or V=Ah. Substituting we will arrive with the following formula:

and cancelling the base area will lead to the theoretical pressure formula in Fluid Mechanics given by:

Where:
ρ = pressure intensity of the liquid
ω = unit weight or specific weight of the liquid
h = pressure head or the height of the standing liquid causing the pressure
A = cross-sectional area or base area of the container

I. OBJECTIVE

The objective of the experiment is to establish the relationship between specific

weight and pressure exerted by a liquid.

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids

II. MATERIALS AND APPARATUSES

The apparatuses necessary to perform this experiment are the following:

1. Beaker or Cylindrical Container
2. Weight Balance or Digital Balance
3. Set of Weights
4. Graduated Cylinder
5. Thermometer
6. Metric Scale

III. PROCEDURES
1. Determine the weight of the empty cylindrical container, its dimensions and calculate
its base area.
2. Determine the weight of the cylindrical container filled with a certain amount or
volume of liquid and measure the height of the liquid. Make sure that the volume of the
liquid is known. You can do this by using graduated cylinder in filling the container with
the samples.
3. Calculate the specific weight and pressure intensity of the liquid using the following
formulas:

Where:

W = the measured weight of the liquid

V = the known volume of the sample
A = base area of the container
ρa = the actual measure pressure

4.Calculate the theoretical pressure using the derived formula:

Where:
ρt = the theoretical pressure
ω = the specific weight of the sample liquid at present temperature
5. Take note of the difference between the actual pressure intensity, ρa, and the

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids
theoretical pressure ρt.
5. Compute the percent error by subtracting the actual pressure from the theoretical
pressure and dividing the difference with the theoretical pressure and multiplying by
100percent.

IV. LABORATORY DATA

SAMPLE LIQUIDS
UNIT SALTED
OIL WATER ICED WATER
WATER
Weight of beaker 1.80 1.95 1.99 2.01
N
(Filled)
Weight of beaker 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45
N
(Empty)
Weight of liquid N 1.35 1.5 1.54 1.56

Volume of liquid m3 0.00017 0.00017 0.00017 0.00017

Temperature ℃ 32.8 31.7 9.7 31.0
Specific Weight N/m3 7941.18 8823.53 9058.82 9176.47
Actual pressure N/m 477.54 530.6 544.75 551.82
Theoretical
N/m 476.47 529.41 543.53 550.59
pressure
% error % 0.2246 0.2248 0.2244 0.2234

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids
COMPUTATIONS:

h = 60 mm
d = 58 mm
base area = /4(d2)
base area = 2827.433 mm or 0.002827 m

Weight of beaker filled conversion

Oil Water
W = mass x gravity W = mass x gravity
= 0.183 kg x 9.81 = 0.199 kg x 9.81
= 1.8 N = 1.95 N

Iced Water Water

W = mass x gravity W = mass x gravity
= 0.203 kg x 9.81 = 0.205 kg x 9.81
= 1.99 N = 2.01 N

Specific Weight
Oil Water
ω = W/V ω = W/V
= 1.80/0.00017 = 1.95/0.00017
= 7941.18 N/m3 = 8823.53 N/m3

Iced Water Salted Water

ω = W/V ω = W/V
= 1.99/0.00017 = 2.01/0.00017
= 9058.82N/m3 = 9176.47 N/m3

Actual Pressure
Oil Water
ρa = W/A ρa = W/A
= 1.80/0.002827 = 1.95/0.002827
= 477.54 N/m2 = 530.6 N/m2

Iced water Salted Water

ρa = W/A ρa = W/A
= 1.99/0.002827 = 2.01/0.002827
= 544.75N/m2 = 551.82 N/m2

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids
Theoretical Pressure
Oil Water
ρt = ωxh ρt = ωxh
= 7941.18 x 0.06 = 8823.53 x 0.06
= 476.47 N/m2 = 529.41 N/m2

Iced Water Salted Water

ρt = ωxh ρt = ωxh
= 9058.82 x 0.06 = 9176.47 x 0.06
= 543.53 N/m2 = 550.59 N/m2

% error
Oil Water
% = ((ρt-ρa)/ρt) x 100 % = ((ρt-ρa)/ρt) x 100
= 0.0022 = 0.0022

Iced Water Salted Water

% = ((ρt-ρa)/ρt) x 100 % = ((ρt-ρa)/ρt) x 100
= 0.0022 = 0.0022

V. DOCUMENTATION

Sample liquids

VI.CONCLUSION

Temperature of sample liquids

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids
Weighing of Sample Liquids

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 Experiment No. 3 – Measurement of Specific Weight and
Pressure Intensity of Liquids
VI. CONCLUSION

References:

FLUID MECHANICS: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS; Cengel, Yunus A.2014

Published by McGraw-Hill, Boston 1

ESSENTIALS OF FLUID MECHANICS; FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS, Cimbala,

John M.2008 Published by McGraw-Hill, Boston

INTRODUCTION TO FLUID MECHANICS; Rox, Robert W.2010 Published by John

Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey

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