Unit 4: Density, pressure in solids and fluids

4.1. Measurement of density

Density is defined as the mass per unit volume of a substance:
mass m
Density= ρ=
volume or V
3 3
The S.I unit is kg /m but you may also use g/cm
It is useful to remember that these units are related by:
1000 kg /m3 =1 g/cm 3
Example
A cube of copper has a mass of 240 g. Each side of the cube is 3.0 cm long.
Calculate the density of copper in g cm-3 and in kg m-3.
Solution
m
ρ=
V and Volume of a cube V =3 cm×3 cm×3 cm=27 cm3
240 g
ρ= 3
=8. 9 gcm−3
27 cm
In kgm-3 ρ=8900 kgm−3
EXERCISE

1. A cube of copper has a mass of 240 g. Each side of the cube is 3.0 cm
long. Calculate the density of copper in g cm−3 and in kg m−3.
2. The density of steel is 7850 kg/m3. Calculate the mass of a steel sphere
of radius 0.15 m.
4.2. Pressure in solids
Pressure is defined as a force acting normally per unit area on a surface.
Force
Pr essure=
Area
F
P=
A
SI unit: Pascal (Pa) and 1Pa=1N/m2
 The greater the area on which a force act, the smaller the pressure.
That is why:
- A tractor has wide wheels to make it move over soft land easily when it is
ploughing a garden in a wet season because its weight acts on a wide area
and exerts a small pressure.
- An elephant is heavy but it walks without sinking through soft land
because it has wide pads (feet).
 The smaller the area, the greater the pressure. That is why:
- A doctor uses little force to inject a patient because the needle has a sharp
end with small area, hence high pressure exerted on the patient.
- A knife is sharpened at one end so as to increase the pressure exerted
while cutting.
Example
1. A boy weighing 500N has feet covering an area of 0.08m 2. Calculate the
pressure he exerts on the ground.
F
P=
A
500 N
P= 2
0.08 m
2
P=6250 m/ s =6250 Pa
2. A book of mass 800g is lying on a table. Its cover measures 25cm by
20cm. what pressure does it exert on the table?
Mass = 800g = 0.8kg
L =25cm = 0.25m
W = 20cm = 0.2m
A=0.25x0.2=0.05m2
F=weight = mg=0.8x10 = 8N
F 8N
P= =
A 0.05 m2
P=160 Pa
3. A brick of mass 3kg measures 6cm by 4cm by 3cm.
a. What is the greatest pressure exerted by the brick on the ground?
b. What is the least (smallest) pressure exerted by the brick on the
ground?

EXERCISE
1. A brick of weight 48N measures 8cm by 4cm by 3cm. what is the greatest
pressure exerted by the brick on flat land?
2. A 55kg woman balances herself on the heel of her shoe which has a
diameter of 1cm. what is the pressure that she exerts while balancing;
a. on one shoe
b. on two shoes
4.3. Pressure in a fluid
If we make three small holes on the sides of a cylinder through which water
can pass;

Water from hole A travels a long distance X3 and indicates high pressure.
Water from hole C travels a short distance X 1 and indicates low pressure.
Therefore, pressure is proportional to the height (depth) of the liquid.
Consider the figure below

Pressure due to the liquid column acting on the base

Force F mg
Pr essure= = =
Area A A
mg ρ Vg ρ( Ah )g
P= = =
A A A
P= ρ gh
Therefore, pressure in fluid (gas or liquid) depends on three factors:
• the depth h below the surface
• the density of the fluid ρ
• the acceleration due to gravity g .

EQUILIBRIUM OF A LIQUID IN A COMMUNICATING CONTAINER

The pressure does not depend upon the area of the base or the shape of the
liquid column as shown below

Pressure is the same for all the bases of the liquid columns showing that a
liquid finds it level in different shapes.

EQUILIBRIUM OF IMMISCIBLE LIQUIDS IN A CONTAINER

In a container, if liquids cannot mix, they are superposed according to their

densities from less dense to denser (from top to bottom).
From the figure, ρ1 < ρ2 < ρ3 < ρ4
- P1=h 1 ρ1 g
- P2=h 2 ρ2 g
- P3=h3 ρ3 g
- P4 =h4 ρ 4 g
Hence, the pressure at the bottom of the container is P=P1 + P2 + P3 + P4
Example:
1.
Calculate the pressure exerted at the bottom of the container below due
to the liquids. Take density of paraffin = 900kg/m3, density of oil =
950kg/m3 and density of water = 1000kg/m3.

SOLUTION

Exercises
1.
What is the pressure at 100m below the surface of sea water of density
1150kg/m3?
2.
Calculate the pressure exerted by ocean water at a depth of 11km if the
density of ocean water is 1.025g/cm3.
 3. A container is filled to a depth of 20.0 cm with water. On top of the water
floats a 30.0cm-thick layer of oil with specific gravity 0.700. What is the
absolute pressure at the bottom of the container?

Unit 5: Measuring Liquid Pressure with Manometer

A Manometer is an instrument used to measure fluid pressure. It consists of a
glass tube bent into the shape of a “U”.

a) TWO ENDS OPEN

Air pressure acts downwards on the water surface on both sides of the
manometer, thus the pressure at the two sides is the same as water levels are
equal. Therefore, P= ρgh
- Any pressure difference at the same level causes a flow of the liquid to
equalize the difference.
 The points A and B are at the same level of the liquid, hence they
experience equal pressure. Therefore,
P2 + Pa=P1 + Pa
P2=P1
P2=ρgh
Where ρ is the density of liquid 1 and P2 is the pressure exerted by liquid 2.

b) ONE END OPEN

One end of a U-shaped tube containing a liquid is open to the atmosphere, and
the other end is connected to a system of unknown pressure P. The pressure at
P + ρ hg where ρ is the density of the liquid. The pressure at B,
point B equals a
however, equals the pressure at A, which is also the unknown pressure P.
Hence,
P=P +ρ hg
a
Example: 1) A U-tube manometer contains water. Oil is poured in one end of
the tube and water level rises by 10cm in the other end. Calculate the pressure
exerted by oil if the density of water is 1000kg/m 3.

Solution
h=10cm = 0.1m
3
ρ=1000 kg/m
2
g =10m/s
Pressure of oil P= ρgh = 1000x10x0.1
Pressure due to oil = 1000Pa

2) The figure below shows a sealed container filled with a gas and attached to a
manometer. The liquid in the manometer is an oil of density 860kg/m 3. The
atmospheric pressure is 101.2kPa and acceleration due to gravity is g =
10m/s2. Calculate the pressure of the gas in both cases.
Case 1)

Case 2)
Unit 6: Application of Pascal’s Principle
5.1. Pascal’s principle (Pascal’s law)

Pascal’s principle states that “the pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is

transmitted equally to every part of the fluid”.
Or Pascal’s law states that “if the effect of gravity can be neglected then the
pressure in a fluid in equilibrium is the same everywhere”.

5.2. Application of Pascal’s law

The Pascal’s principle is applied in the working of hydraulic systems like
hydraulic lift, hydraulic brakes, hydraulic press etc.
 1. Hydraulic lift
The hydraulic lift is used to lift heavy objects.
It consists of a liquid container which has pistons fitted into the small and
large opening cylinders.

A small force F 1 is applied to piston of area A 1, this force produces pressure on

the liquid immediately below it.
F
P= 1
A1
The pressure is transmitted equally throughout the liquid and acts also upon
the piston of larger area A2 in the upward direction.
where
F
P= 2
A2
F2 F1
=
Hence, A2 A1

2. Hydraulic Brakes

The pressure in the input line from the brake pedal is exerted in both
directions on the movable brake cylinder pistons, this multiplies the force on
the fluid by the ratio of the area of the cylinder to the area of the supply line.
 3. Hydraulic press

A hydraulic press is a hydraulic mechanism for applying a large

compressive force. It consists of a cylinder with a piston of large diameter
connected by a pipe to another cylinder of small diameter. A liquid is
pumped into a small cylinder and pushes the large piston by a great force.

A= pressure applied to a small piston

B= Pressure transmitted by the fluid to the large piston

Example 1: given the figure below, calculate the force F2

Example2
In a car lift used in a service station, compressed air exerts a force on a small
piston that has a circular cross section and a radius of 5.00 cm. This pressure
is transmitted by a liquid to a piston that has a radius of 15.0 cm. What force
must the compressed air exert to lift a car weighing13 300 N? What air
pressure produces this force?
Solution
Because the pressure exerted by the compressed air is transmitted
undiminished throughout the liquid, we have

( ) π (5 .00×10−2 m )2
A1
F 1= F 2= −2 2
(1 . 33×10 4 N )=1 . 48×10 3 N
A2 π (15 .00×10 m)

The air pressure that produces this force is

F1 1 . 48×10 4 N
P= = −2 2
=1 .88×105 Pa
A1 π (5 . 00×10 m)

Example3:
A hydraulic automobile lift is designed to lift cars with a maximum mass of
3000 kg. The area of cross−section of the piston carrying the load is 425 ×
104m2. What maximum pressure would the piston have to bear?

EXERCISE
1. Consider the figure below,
 a) Calculate the pressure exerted on the load
b) Calculate the weight of the load
2. From the figure of a weight bridge below,

Determine;
a) The pressure at B
b) The pressure at A
c) The mass of the vegetables if the weight bridge is in equilibrium.
3. The master cylinder of a hydraulic braking system has a cross sectional
area of 10cm2 and each of the four wheel cylinders has a cross sectional
area of 25cm2.
a. Calculate the pressure developed in the master cylinder if a force of
200N is exerted on it.
b. What force will be exerted on each wheel?