Pressure

When a force acts perpendicular to a surface, the pressure exerts is the ratio between the magnitude of the
force and the area of the surface:
∆F
∆ p=
A

Pressures are properly expressed in pascals (1 Pa = 1 N/m 2) or in lb/ft2, but other units are often used:

1 lb/in2 = 144 lb/ft2

1 atmosphere (atm) = average pressure exerted by earth’s atmosphere at sea level

= 1.013 ×105 Pa=14.7 lb/ ¿2

1 bar = 105 Pa (slightly less than 1 atm)

1 millibar (mb) = 100 Pa (widely used in meteorology)

1 torr = 133 Pa (widely used in medicine for blood pressure)

Gauge Pressure
Pressure gauge measure the difference between an unknown pressure and atmospheric pressure. What
they measure is known as gauge pressure, and the true pressure is known as the absolute pressure:
p= p gauge + p atm

Absolute pressure=gauge pressure+ atmospℎeric pressure

A tire whose gauge pressure is 2 bar contains air at an absolute pressure about 3 bar, since sea-level
atmospheric pressure is about 1 bar.

Example 5.

A 65 kg woman balances on the heel of her right shoe, which has a circular base 1 cm in radius. How much
pressure does she exert on the ground?

Example 6.

The weight of a car is equally supported by its four tires. The gauge pressure of the air in the tires is 2.0 bar
and its tire has an area of 140 cm2 in contact with the ground. What is the mass of the car?

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Example 7.

The flat roof of a house is 30 ft long and 25 ft wide and weighs 15,000 lb. Before a severe storm the doors
and windows of the house are closed so tightly that the air pressure inside remains at a normal 14.7 lb/in. 2
even the outside pressure falls to 14.3 lb/in. 2. Compare the upward force on the roof with its weight.

Pressure in a Fluid
Pressure is useful quantity where fluids (gases and liquids) are concerned because of the following
properties of fluids.
1. The forces that a fluid exerts on the walls of its container, and those that walls exert on the fluid,
always act perpendicular to the walls.
2. The force exerted by the pressure in a fluid is the same in all directions at a given depth.
3. An external pressure exerted on a fluid is transmitted uniformly throughout the fluid. This does not
mean that the pressures in a fluid are the same everywhere, because the weight of the fluid itself
exerts pressures that increase with increasing depth. The pressure at a depth ℎ in a fluid of density
ρ due to the weight of fluid above is

p= ρgℎ

Hence the total pressure at that depth is

p= p external + ρgℎ

When a body of fluid is in an open container, the atmospheric pressure exerts an external pressure
on it.

Example 8.
The interior of a submarine located at a depth of 50 m in sea water is maintained at sea-level atmospheric
pressure. Find the force acting on a window 20 cm square. The density of sea water is 1.03 ×103 kg /m3.

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Example 9.
What is the pressure at the bottom of a swimming pool 6 ft deep that is filled with freshwater? Express the
answer in pounds per square inch.

Archimedes’ Principle
An object immersed in a fluid is acted on by an upward force that arises because pressures in a fluid increase
with depth. Hence the upward force on the bottom of the object is more than the downward force on its
top. The difference between the two, called the buoyant force, is equal to the weight of a body of the fluid
whose volume is the same as that of the object. This is Archimedes’ principle: The buoyant force on a
submerged object is equal to the weight of fluid the object displaces.
If the buoyant force is less than the weight of the object itself, the object sinks; if the buoyant force
equals the weight of the object, the object floats in equilibrium at any depth in the fluid; if the buoyant force
is more than the weight of the object, the object floats with part of its volume above the surface.

Example 10.
How much force is needed to support a 100-kg iron anchor when it immersed in seawater? The density of
iron is 7.8 ×103 kg /m3 and that of seawater is 1.03 ×103 kg /m3 .

Example 11.
A 70-kg person dives off a raft 2 m square moored in a freshwater lake. By how much does the raft rises?

Example 12.
The density of ice is 920 kg/m3 and that of seawater is 1030 kg/m3. What percentage of the volume of
iceberg is submerged?

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Example 13.
A 100-gal steel tank weighs 50 lb when empty. Will it float in seawater when it is filled with gasoline? The
density of gasoline is 42 lb/ft3, that of seawater is 64lb/ft3, and 1 gal = 0.134 ft3.

Hydraulic Press
The hydraulic press is a basic machine which is uses the fact that an external pressure exerted on a fluid is
transmitted uniformly throughout the fluid. In a hydraulic press, a piston whose cross-sectional area is A¿ is
moved through a distance L¿ by an applied force, and fluid in the cylinder transmits the applied pressure to
a piston of area Aout which moves the distance Lout . The pressure is the same on both pistons, so

F ¿ F out
p= =
A¿ A out

Because the fluid is assumed incompressible, the fluid shifted from one cylinder to the other has the same
volume V = AL in each cylinder. Therefore

V = A ¿ L¿= A out L out

Example 14.
A hydraulic press has an input cylinder 2 cm in diameter and an output cylinder 12 cm in diameter.
(a) Assuming 100 percent efficiency, find the force exerted by the output piston when a force of 80 N is
applied to the input piston. (b) if the input piston is moved through 10 cm, how much is the output piston
moved?
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Exercises
1. A 50-g gold bracelet is dropped into a full glass of water, and 2.6 cm 3 of water overflow. What is the
density of gold? What is its specific gravity?
2. What is the mass of water in a swimming pool 7 m long, 3 m wide and 2 m deep?
3. The density of iron is 7.8 ×103 kg /m3 . (a) What is the specific gravity of iron? (b) how many cubic
meters does 1 metric ton (1000 kg) of iron occupy?
4. The weight density of ice is 58 lb/ft 3. What is its specific gravity?
5. A nail 2 mm in diameter is embedded in a tire in which the gauge pressure is 1.8 bar. How much
force tends to push the nail out?
6. A 130-lb woman balances on the heel of one shoe, which is 1 in. in radius. How much pressure does
she exert on the floor?
7. A phonograph needle whose point is 0.1 mm in radius exerts a downward force of 0.02 N. What is
the pressure on the record groove? How many atmospheres is this?
8. A hypodermic syringe whose cylinder is 10 mm in diameter is used to inject a liquid into a patient’s
vein in which the blood pressure is 2 kPa. (a) What is the minimum force needed on the plunger of
the syringe? (b) Why is the diameter of the needle irrelevant?
9. What is the pressure at a depth of 100 m in the ocean? How many atmospheres is this? The density
of seawater is 1.03 ×103 kg /m3 .
10. What pressure is experienced by a skin diver 20 ft below the surface of the freshwater lake?
11. (a) How much force is required to raise a 1000-kg block of concrete to the surface of a freshwater
lake? (b) How much force is needed to lift it out of the water? The density of concrete is
3 3
2.3 ×10 kg /m .
12. An aluminum bar weighs 17 lb in air. How much force is required to support the bar when it is
immersed in gasoline? The weight density of aluminum is 170 lb/ft 3 and that of the gasoline is 42
lb/ft3.
13. A raft 8 ft wide, 12 ft long, and 2 ft high is made from solid balsa wood ( ρg=8 lb/ft 3 ). How much
weight can it support in seawater ( ρg=64 lb /ft 3 ) ?
14. People have roughly the same density as freshwater. Find the buoyant force exerted by the
atmosphere on a 50-kg woman at sea level where the density of air is 1.3 kg / m3 .
15. A balloon weighing 100 kg has a capacity of 1000 m 3. If it is filled with hydrogen, how great a
payload in kg can it support? At sea level the density of hydrogen is 0.09 kg/m 3 and that of air is 1.3
kg/m3.
16. A force of 50 N is applied to the input piston of a hydraulic system. The input piston has an area of
60 cm2 and the output piston has an area of 15 cm 2. (a) Find the force the output piston exerts? (b)
Find the distance the output piston moves when the input piston moves 2 cm.
17. A lever with a mechanical advantage of 10 is used to apply force to the input piston of a hydraulic
jack whose input piston is 1 in. in diameter and whose output piston is 4 in. in diameter. (a) If the
jack is 90 percent efficient, how much weight can it lift when a force of 50 lb is applied to the lever?
(b) if each stroke of the lever moves the input piston 3 in., how many strokes are needed to raise the
output piston 1 ft?
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