SAN JOSE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

San Jose, Malilipot, Albay

FLUID MECHANICS
CHAPTER 2
Hydrostatic Pressure
Lesson 2

Hydrostatic Pressure
Hydrostatic pressure is the force per unit area exerted by a liquid or gas on a body or surface, with the force acting
at right angles to the surface uniformly in all directions. It is due to the weight of the liquid. It is a scalar quantity. It
has magnitude but no direction.

Pressure = Force
Area

P=F
A

SI Unit: N/m2, Pa (pascal)

English unit: pound per square inch (psi)

1 Pa = 1 N/m2
1 kPa = 1 000 Pa

The pressure in liquid can be also calculated by using the equation:

P = hpg or P = weight density x height

where: P = pressure
h = height or depth of the liquid
p = density of the liquid
g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s2

Densities of some liquids:

Density
Liquids g/cm3 kg/m3
mercury 13.60 13 600
Glycerin 1.26 1 260
Seawater 1.03 1 030
Water at 40C 1.00 1 000
Benzene 0.90 900
Ethyl alcohol 0.81 810

Liquid pressure is affected by the following factors:

Nelson B. Bataller 1
 1. Height or depth of the liquid
2. Density of the liquid

Liquid pressure is exerted equally in all directions.

Sample application:
Dams are constructed thicker at the bottom to counteract the greater pressure encountered at the bottom.

Sample Problem:
1. The interior of a submarine located at a depth of 50 m in seawater is maintained at sea-level atmospheric
pressure. Find the force acting on a window of 20 cm2. (density of seawater = 1.03 x 103 kg/m3)

Given: h = 50 m
p = 1.03 x 103 kg/m3
g = 9.8 m/s2
A = 20 cm2 = 2 x 10-3 m2

Required: force, F

Formulae: P = hpg
P=F
A
Solution:
P = (50 m) (1.03 x 103 kg/m3) (9.8 m/s2) = 504.7 Pa(N/m2)

F = PA = (504.7 N/m2) (2 x 10-3 m2) = 1 009.4 N

Activity 2:
Answer the following:
1. Why do deep-sea divers encounter greater pressure at greater depths?
2. Why is it that human beings have special blood vessel valves that control the flow of blood, especially in the
lower extremities?
3. Why do we have to place the sphygmomanometer in the upper right arm when measuring blood pressure?
4. The Marianas Trench is the deepest known portion of the Earth’s surface, with a maximum depth of 11, 034
m. In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh to a depth of 10,912 m in bathyscaph Trieste. Use the pressure
equation to determine the approximate pressure in kPa (1Pa = 1N/m 2) experienced by the bathyscaph at this
depth. Assume that the ocean water has a density of 1.015 g/cm 3 and the density does not vary with depth.
(1 kPa = 1000 Pa)

Nelson B. Bataller 2