III.

Materials and Methods

Equipment

 Equipment required to carry out this experiment is the following:

 Armfield F1-12 Hydrostatic Pressure Apparatus,
 A jug, and
 Calipers or rulers, for measuring the actual dimensions of the quadrant.

Methods
In this experiment, the hydrostatic force and center of pressure acting on a
vertical surface will be determined by increasing the water depth in the apparatus
water tank and by reaching an equilibrium condition between the moments acting on
the balance arm of the test apparatus. The forces which create these moments are
the weight applied to the balance arm and the hydrostatic force on the vertical
surface.
The experiment was performed at University hydraulics laboratory. First, the
apparatus has been placed in a splash tray and correctly leveled. Then, the length l
and width b of the rectangular surface, the distance r from the pivot to the top of the
surface, and the distance s from the hanger to the pivot were recorded. The
rectangular surface was positioned with the face vertical (θ=0) and clamped and
then the position of the moveable jockey weight was adjusted to give equilibrium, i.e.
when the balance pin is removed there is no movement of the apparatus. The
balance pin was replaced and water is added to the storage chamber, this created
an out-of-balance clockwise moment in the apparatus. Nest was a mass was added
to the hanger and water was slowly removed from the chamber via drain hole such
that the system was brought almost to equilibrium, but now clockwise moment was
marginally greater. Water was slowly added to the storage chamber by a dropper
until equilibrium was attained. At this condition the drain hole has been closed and
the balance pin again removed to cheek equilibrium. Lastly, the balance pin was
replaced and the values of y1, y2 and M were recorded and the above procedure is
repeated for various combinations of depth.