ME130-2: Fluid Mechanics

Module 1:
Fluid Properties & Fluid Statics
Week 3:
Fluid Static 1

Faculty: Engr. Emil Luna

School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Pressure of Fluids
𝐹𝐹
• Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid per unit area 𝑃𝑃 = ; Pa = N/m2
𝐴𝐴
• Absolute Pressure is the actual pressure at a given position
• Gage Pressure is the difference between absolute pressure and atmospheric pressure
• Vacuum Pressure is the pressure below atmospheric pressure

𝑃𝑃𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 − 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎

𝑃𝑃𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 − 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎

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Pressure of Fluids

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Variation of Pressure with Depth
• Pressure in a fluid increases with depth because more fluid rests on deeper layers, and the
effect of this extra weight on a deeper layer is balanced by an increase in pressure

𝑃𝑃 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔ℎ
• The pressure at the bottom of a container with multiple fluids at rest can be solved by adding
up all the pressure at every point on the specific fluid
𝑃𝑃1 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝜌𝜌1 𝑔𝑔ℎ1 + 𝜌𝜌2 𝑔𝑔ℎ2 + 𝜌𝜌3 𝑔𝑔ℎ3

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Variation of Pressure with Depth
• Intravenous infusions usually are driven by gravity by hanging the fluid bottle at sufficient
height to counteract the blood pressure in the vein and to force the fluid into the body. The
higher the bottle is raised, the higher the flow rate of the fluid will be. (a) If it is observed that
the fluid and the blood pressures balance each other when the bottle is 1.2 m above the arm
level, determine the gage pressure of the blood. (b) If the gage pressure of the fluid at the arm
level needs to be 20 kPa for sufficient flow rate, determine how high the bottle must be
placed. Take the density of the fluid to be 1020 kg/m3.

(a) 𝑃𝑃𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔,𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 − 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏

𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑃𝑃𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔,𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 1020 3 9.81 2 1.20𝑚𝑚 = 12.0 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑚𝑚 𝑠𝑠 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
1000 2 1 2
𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑚
𝑃𝑃𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔,𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
(b) ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 =
ρ𝑔𝑔
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
20 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 1000 1 2
ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎−𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = 𝑠𝑠 2 𝑚𝑚 = 2.00 𝑚𝑚
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
1020 3 9.81 2
𝑚𝑚 𝑠𝑠

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Pascal’s Law
• The pressure applied to a confined fluid increases the pressure throughout by the same
amount

𝑃𝑃1 = 𝑃𝑃2
𝐹𝐹1 𝐹𝐹2
=
𝐴𝐴1 𝐴𝐴2

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Barometers
• Barometer is a device used to measure atmospheric pressure
• Usually, it is the pressure produced by a column of mercury 760mm in height at 0ׄ°C under standard
gravitational acceleration of 9.807m/s2
𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔ℎ

• Example: Determine the atmospheric pressure at a location where the barometric reading is
740mmHg and the gravitational acceleration is g=9.805m/s2. Assume the temperature of
mercury to be 10°C, at which density is 13,570 kg/m3

𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔ℎ
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 1𝑁𝑁 1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 13,750 3 9.805 2 0.740𝑚𝑚
𝑚𝑚 𝑠𝑠 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 1000𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
1 2
𝑠𝑠
𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 98.5 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

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Manometer
• A device that uses a fluid column to measure pressure differences
𝑃𝑃2 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔ℎ
• Example: A manometer is used to measure the pressure of a gas in a tank. The fluid used has
a specific gravity of 0.85, and the manometer column height is 55 cm, as shown in the figure.
If the local atmospheric pressure is 96 kPa, determine the absolute pressure within the tank.

𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝜌𝜌 = SG 𝜌𝜌𝑤𝑤 = 0.85 1000 3 = 850 3
𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚
𝑃𝑃 = 𝑃𝑃𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝜌𝜌gh
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑚𝑚 1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑃𝑃 = 96𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 + 850 3 9.81 2 0.55𝑚𝑚 ( )
𝑚𝑚 𝑠𝑠 𝑁𝑁
1000 2
𝑚𝑚
𝑃𝑃 = 100.59 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

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End Slide

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