PRINCIPLES

OF
HYDROSTATICS
(Lesson 2)
• 
Unit pressure or Pressure
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.
P=

where:
F = lb or kg
A = or
 PASCAL’S LAW

Pascal’s Law, developed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal, states that

the pressure on a fluid is equal in all directions and in all parts of a container.
 ABSOLUTE AND GAUGE PRESSURE

Gage pressure (Relative Pressure)

Gage pressures are pressures above or below the atmosphere and can be
measured by pressure gauges or manometers.

Atmospheric Pressure
It is the pressure at any point on the earth’s surface from the weight of the air
above it.
• 
1 atmospheric pressure = 101.325 kPa
= 14.7 psi
= 1.032
= 29.92 in.Hg
= 760 mmHg
= 1.013 bar
= 760 torr
= 1.013 x
• 
Absolute Pressure
Absolute pressure is the pressure above absolute zero (vacuum)

=+

NOTE:
Absolute zero is attained if all air is removed. It is the lowest possible
pressure available.
Absolute pressure can never be negative.
The smallest gage pressure is equal to the negative of the ambient
atmospheric pressure.
• 
Variations in Pressure

The pressure at any point below the free surface of a liquid is equal the product
of the unit weight of the liquid and the depth of the point in question.

- =

Therefore; the difference in pressure between two points in a homogenous

fluid at rest is equal to the product of the unit weight of the fluid to the vertical
distance between the points.
• 

Basic equations of fluid statics applied to liquids:

= +

where:
=

=
• 
Basic equations of fluid statics applied to gases:

= -

PRESSURE HEAD
Pressure head is the height “h” of a column of homogeneous liquid of unit
weight that will produce an intensity of pressure.

h=
 MANOMETER

A manometer is a tube, usually bent in a form of a U, containing a liquid of

known specific gravity, the surface of which moves proportionally to changes
of pressure. It is used to measure pressure.
TYPES OF MANOMETER
1. Open-type
It has an atmospheric surface in one leg and is capable of measuring
gage pressures.
2. Differential Type
without an atmospheric surface and capable of measuring only
differences of pressure.
3. Piezometer
the simplest form of open manometer. It is a tube tapped into a wall
of a container or conduit for the purpose of measuring pressure.