JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Fluid Statics
The subject of the flow of fluids, and particularly of water, fascinates everybody. We can all remember, as
children, playing in the bathtub or in mud puddles with the strange stuff. As we get older, we watch streams,
waterfalls, and whirlpools, and we are fascinated by this substance which seems almost alive relative to solids.
The behavior of fluids is in many ways very unexpected and interesting. - Richard Feynman

Definitions
Density is a term that describes how much mass is packed per volume. A bowling ball and a basketball may
be roughly the same size, but a bowling ball is more dense and is thus heavier. The density ρ is defined as ρ = m
V .

Pressure is a term that describes how much force is exerted per unit area. For example, it can describe the
strength at which air is pushing down on you. Mathematically, it is given by the equation p = F
A . The SI units
are Pascals (Pa).

Archimedes Principle and Buoyancy

Idea
When any object is submerged in a fluid, the fluid exerts an upwards force on the object,
which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. This is called the buoyant force. For example,
if a block of volume V was completely submerged in a fluid with density ρ, then the mass of the displaced
fluid is:

m = ρV
and thus the force is ρV g . If the block was half submerged, then the volume of the displaced fluid will
also be halved and thus the force. This new buoyant force will then be 12 ρV g. Note that the buoyant
force is independent of the mass (or density) of the object, and dependent only of the fluid it displaces.

Problem 1. (*) A wooden block with a constant mass density is floating in a fluid. x% of the block is
submerged. Show that the ratio of the two densities satisfy:
ρobject
= x%
ρfluid
3
Problem 2. What is the buoyant force on a 60 kg person? The density of air is 1.3 kg/m . Hint: To find the
volume of a human body, use the fact that we are just about able to float in water, which has a density of
3
1000 kg/m .
Problem 3. If all the icebergs melt, will ocean levels rise, lower, or stay the same? The answer may be
counterintuitive, so make sure to show it mathematically!
Problem 4. You throw a rock off a canoe. Will the water level rise, lower, or stay the same? Get to the answer
in two ways, first using Archimedes Principle, then using an extreme case where a super heavy rock is used.
Problem 5. Instead of throwing a rock off a canoe, you throw yourself overboard. Will the water level rise,
lower, or stay the same?
Problem 6. (*) The beaker on the left has a ping pong ball floating in it, tied to the bottom of the beaker
with a string (of negligible mass and volume). The right hand beaker has a steel ball suspended in the middle
of it. The steel ball is the same volume as the table tennis ball, but is heavy enough to sink, except that it’s
being held up by a string connected to a ring stand sitting on the table next to the scale. Is the scale balanced,
or does it tip?
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Problem 7. A block of wood floats in water in a container. The container is in an elevator. When the elevator
accelerates up, will the block sink a bit deeper or rise a bit higher?
Problem 8. Two identical buckets are filled to the rim with water, but one has a block of wood floating in the
water. Which bucket, if either, is heavier?
Problem 9. (**) An object floating in mercury (density ρm ) has one-fourth of its volume submerged. If enough
water (density ρw ) is added to cover the object, what fraction of its volume will remain immersed in mercury?

Variation of Pressure
Idea
In an incompressible fluid like water, the variation of pressure as a function of height is given by

∆p = −ρg∆y (1)

The negative sign tells us that as height increases (closer to surface), the pressure decreases. If the
height decreases, the pressure increases. For example, if the pressure at sea level is p0 , then the pressure
a distance h below sea level is p0 + ρgh.

Derivation
Consider a fluid at rest in a container. Let us pick a cylindrical volume of water and analyze the forces
on it with a height h and the area of each face is A. The pressure on the lower face is p1 and thus the
upwards force exerted on that face is p1 A. The pressure at the top face is p2 and so the downwards force
exerted is p2 A. There is another downwards force: the force of gravity which is equal to mg. Since this
is suspended, we can equate the downwards and upwards force and using the fact that m = ρV gives:

Fup = Fdown → p1 A = p2 A + mg
p1 A = (ρAh)g + p2 A
p1 = ρgh + p2
p2 − p1 = −ρgh

Problem 10. Flasks A, B, and C each have a circular base with a radius of 2 cm. An equal volume of water
is poured into each flask, and none overflow. Rank the force of water F on the base of the flask from greatest
to least.

Problem 11. Three non-miscible liquids of densities ρ1 , ρ2 , and ρ3 are poured into a cylindrical container such
that they each take up a height h. What is the pressure at the bottom of the container? Will anything change
if they were miscible?
3
Problem 12. (*) At sea level, the density of air is 1.3 kg/m and the air pressure is 101 kPa. Using ∆p = −ρgy,
what is the air pressure on Mount Everest, whose peak is at a height of 8848 m? It turns out that for gases,
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

this expression doesn’t actually hold. Air pressure as a function of height is roughly given by

p = p0 e−h/a

where
a ≡ p0 /(gρ0 ) = 8550 m
This is known as the barometric formula. Using this equation, what is the air pressure at the peak of Everest?
Why does the first equation not hold for gases?

Sample Question

Assuming that your mouth can create a perfect vacuum, what is the maximum height water can be
sucked up a straw? The pressure at sea level is 101 kPa.

Sample Solution

Let p = 101, 000 Pa be the atmospheric pressure. See the following diagram below. Pretend that the
straw has a closed end at the top and is filled with a perfect vacuum such that the pressure inside is
zero.

Using equation 1 we have

p2 − p1 = 0 − p = −ρgh
p
h=
ρg
3 2
Substituting in p = 101, 000 Pa, ρ = 1000 kg/m , and g = 9.8 m/s gives h = 10.3 m .

This is a surprisingly low number. Perhaps this may even lead to even more interesting questions. How
do trees carry water from their roots to their leaves? How are mining companies able to pump water or
oil up a long tube?

Remarks: This is actually the schematic for a barometer, a device that measures pressure. First, the
tube is filled with a dense liquid such as mercury and then is placed face down into a tub of mercury
exposed to the atmosphere. The space at the top will act like a near vacuum. Although it may contain
some mercury vapour, but it is in negligible amounts. Measuring the height h will allow us to determine
the atmospheric pressure. This of course, does not account for a phenomenon called surface tension
which will be explored later in this package.
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Problem 13. A fluid is poured into a U-shaped tube (manometer) where there are two open ends that face
up. Show that equation 1 still holds even for the bottom-most section of the tube.

Problem 14. (**) Consider the above U-shaped tube. Water is filled up to a height h. Oil, with a density of
ρoil is added until the total length of oil is equal to the total length of water. Determine the height difference
between the two sides when the system is at equilibrium.
Problem 15. (***) Again, consider the above U-shaped tube now filled with a single fluid with density ρ up
to a height h. The fluid is displaced slightly so that one side moves up a distance x and the other side lowers a
distance x. Find the frequency of oscillation. Hint: if an object is subject to a force linear with position (e.g.
ma = −kx) then the frequency is given by r
1 k
f=
2π m
Problem 16. Consider a container of fluid subject to a downward acceleration a. Show that the pressure
variation with depth in the fluid is given by
p = ρh(g − a)
Hint: evaluate the situation from the perspective of the fluid. What does it think g is?
Problem 17. (**) Consider a cube container where three fourths of it is filled with a fluid. What is the
maximum horizontal acceleration a it can have such that no water spills out of the container?

Pascal’s Law
Idea
Pascal’s Law states that if the pressure at one point in a fluid changes, the pressure at every point in
the fluid changes by the same amount. For example, if you use a piston to apply a pressure of 10 Pa,
then the pressure at every point in the fluid will increase by 10 Pa.

Problem 18. Consider the following diagram of a hydraulic lever. If an input force of F is supplied by the left
piston, what will be the force felt by the right piston? Answer in terms of F , Ai , and Ao . If you move the left
piston by a distance of di , how far will the right piston move?
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Problem 19. Consider a swimming pool with height h and water is filled to the top. What is the average
pressure felt by the walls surrounding the swimming pool?
Problem 20. (**) In 1654 Otto von Guericke, Burgermeister of Magdeburg and inventor of the air pump, gave
a demonstration before the Imperial Diet in which two teams of horses could not pull apart two evacuated brass
hemispheres. Show that the force F required to pull apart the hemispheres is

F = πR2 ∆p

where R is the radius of the hemispheres and ∆p is the difference in pressure outside and inside the sphere.
These are known as Magdeburg hemispheres.

Surface Tension
Idea
Insects and leaves are able to float on water. They are not partially submerged or experiencing the
buoyancy force. Water simply attracts itself due to its high surface tension. You can see this in action
by observing how water droplets stick to itself on a surface instead of ”flattening out”

A sliding wire is attached to a bent wire to form a rectangle. This contraption is placed vertically in a
container filled with a fluid, such as soap. The sliding wire is slowly lifted upwards, carrying some of the
soap with it. There will be a downwards force mg and the force from the surface tension trying to pull
the soap down. An external force F is then required to keep it in equilibrium.

If the length of the sliding wire is L, then the surface tension can be represented as:
F
γ= (2)
L
For the film above, the force acts over a distance of 2d, because there are two surface layers (one on either
side). Thus in this arrangement: γ = F/2d. We can also express this in terms of energy by multiplying
the numerator and denominator by ∆x. Using the fact that F ∆x = ∆Ep ≡ ∆U we can write:

F ∆x ∆U
γ= = (3)
L∆x ∆A

Problem 21. How much energy is stored in the surface of a soap bubble with radius r? Answer in terms of γ
and other fundamental constants.
Problem 22. (**) An astronaut pours some water in the air on a space station (no gravity environment) and
notices that due to its surface tension, the liquid turns into a ball of radius r. Show that the pressure difference
inside and outside the ball is
4γ
r
.
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Problem 23. (****) The astronaut notices that if she connects two water-balls with radii of r and R with a
thin straw of diameter D and length L, water will flow from one ball to the other ball. Find the direction and
the magnitude of the average speed Vav of the water between balls in terms of r and R at the instant in which
they are connected by the straw. Assume that the balls remain almost spherical. Hint: the pressure drop in a
pipe is given by
∆p = 32µLVav /D2
where µ is the dynamic viscosity of water. We will discuss this further in another week. Roughly estimate how
long it would take for one ball to completely absorb the other. Source: CAP

Problem 24. (**) A solid glass rod of radius r is placed inside and coaxial with a glass cylinder of internal
radius R. Their bottom ends are aligned and placed in contact with, and perpendicular to, the surface of an
open tank of water. To what height will the water rise in the region between the rod and the cylinder? The
surface tension of water is γ.

3
Problem 25. (****) The surface tension of liquid 4 He is 0.35 mN/m and the liquid density is 145 kg/m .
2
Estimate (a) the number of atoms/m in the surface and (b) the energy per bond, in eV, in the liquid at this
temperature. The mass of a helium atom is 6.64 × 1027 kg. Picture each atom as a cube and that each atom
interacts only with its four nearest neighbours.
JF Physics Club Fluid Statics

Differential Calculus
Idea
Using calculus, we can rewrite the changes in pressure in its differential form:
dp
= −ρg (4)
dy
which can be used to analyze a wider range of problems.

Sample Question

Express the atmospheric pressure in terms of height y and other constants. Assume that the density of
air is directly proportional to pressure.

Sample Solution

Since density is directly proportional to pressure, we can write:

ρ p
=
ρ0 p0
where ρ0 and p0 are the atmospheric density and pressure at sea level, respectively.
We can solve and substitute ρ into equation 4:

pρ0
dp = − gdy
p0
p
gρ0 h
Z Z
dp
=− dy
p0 p p0 0
p gρ0
ln =− h
p0 p0
p = p0 e−(gρ0 /p0 )h

Problem 26. (**) Using the knowledge that g is proportional to 1/r2 , come up with a better expression for
atmospheric pressure in terms of height. Using this new expression, come up with a more accurate answer of the
air pressure on Mount Everest. Show that this new expression is equivalent to the one derived in the example
question for small distances.
Problem 27. (***) A fluid is rotating at constant angular velocity ω about the central vertical axis of a
cylindrical container. Show that the variation of pressure in the radial direction is given by:
dp
= ρω 2 r
dr
Take p = pc at the axis of rotation (r = 0) and show that the pressure at any point r is
1
p = pc + ρω 2 r2
2
Finally, show that the cross section of the liquid surface is parabolic in the form

y = ω 2 r2 /2g