Pressure

Pressure and Fluid Statics
FLUID STATICS
Hydrostatics is the study of pressures throughout a
fluid at rest and the pressure forces on finite surfaces.
As the fluid is at rest, there are no shear stresses in it.
Hence the pressure at a point on a plane surface always
acts normal to the surface, and all forces are
independent of viscosity.
The pressure variation is due only to the weight of
the fluid. As a result, the controlling laws are relatively
simple, and analysis is based on a straightforward
application of the mechanical principles of force and
moment. Solutions are exact and there is no need to
have recourse to experiment.
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Fluid Mechanics
Mechanics 2 Chapter 3: Pressure and Fluid Statics
Pressure
Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid
per unit area(even imaginary surfaces as in a control volume).
Units of pressure are N/m2, which is called a pascal
(Pa).
Since the unit Pa is too small for pressures encountered
in practice, kilopascal (1 kPa = 103 Pa) and megapascal
(1 MPa = 106 Pa) are commonly used. [ML-1T-2]
Other units include bar, atm, kgf/cm2, lbf/in2=psi.
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Pressure
1 bar = 105 Pa = 0.1 MPa = 100 kPa

1 atm = 101,325 Pa = 101.325 kPa =
1.01325 bars
1 kgf/cm2 = 9.807 N/cm2 = 9.807  104
N/m2 = 9.807  104 Pa = 0.9807 bar =
0.9679 atm
1 atm = 14.696 psi.
1 kgf/cm2 = 14.223 psi.
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Pressure at a Point
By considering the equilibrium of a small triangular wedge of fluid extracted

from a static fluid body, one can show that for any wedge angle θ, the
pressures on the three faces of the wedge are equal in magnitude:
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Pressure at a Point
Pressure at any point

in a fluid is the same in
all directions.
Pressure has a
magnitude, but not a
specific direction, and
thus it is a scalar
quantity.
Proof on the
Blackboard
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Pressure at a Point
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Pressure at a Point
This result is known as Pascal's law, which states that the

pressure at a point in a fluid at rest, or in motion, is
independent of direction as long as there are no shear
stresses present.
Pressure at a point has the same magnitude in all directions,
and is called isotropic .
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Variation of Pressure with Depth
Therefore, the hydrostatic pressure

increases linearly with depth at the
rate of the specific weight of the
fluid.
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In the presence of a gravitational field,
pressure increases with depth because
more fluid rests on deeper layers.
To obtain a relation for the variation of
pressure with depth, consider
rectangular element
Force balance in z-direction gives
F z  maz  0
P2 x  P1x   g xz  0
Dividing by x and rearranging
gives
P  P2  P1   g z   s z
∆z is called the pressure head
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Pressure in a fluid at rest is independent of the
shape of the container.
Pressure is the same at all points on a horizontal
plane in a given fluid.
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Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures
Actual pressure at a given point is called

the absolute pressure.
Most pressure-measuring devices are
calibrated to read zero in the atmosphere,
and therefore indicate gage pressure,
Pgage = Pabs - Patm.
Pressure below atmospheric pressure are
called vacuum pressure, Pvac=Patm - Pabs.
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Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures
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Hydrostatic Pressure Difference Between
Two Points
For a fluid with constant density,
If you can draw a continuous line through the same fluid
from point 1 to point 2, then p1 = p2 if z1 = z2.
•By this rule p1 = p2 and p4 = p5
•p2 does not equal p3 even

though they are at the same
elevation, because one cannot
draw a line connecting these
points through the same fluid. In
fact, p2 is less than p3 since
mercury is denser than water.
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Two Points
Any free surface open to the The shape of a container does

atmosphere has atmospheric not matter in hydrostatics
pressure, p0.
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Two Points
Pressure in layered fluid.
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Pascal’s Law
Two points at the same
elevation in a continuous fluid
at rest are at the same
pressure, called Pascal’s law,
Pressure applied to a confined

fluid increases the pressure
throughout by the same
amount.
In picture, pistons are at same
height:
F1 F2 F2 A2
P1  P2    
A1 A2 F1 A1
Ratio A2/A1 is called ideal

mechanical advantage
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Pascal’s Law
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Pascal’s Law
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Pressure Measurement and Manometers
Piezometer tube
The simplest manometer is a tube,
open at the top, which is attached to a
vessel or a pipe containing liquid at a
pressure (higher than atmospheric) to
be measured. This simple device is
known as a piezometer tube.
This method can only be used for

liquids (i.e. not for gases) and only
when the liquid height is convenient to
measure. It must not be too small or
too large and pressure changes must
be detectable.
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U-tube manometer
This device consists of a glass tube
bent into the shape of a "U", and is
used to measure some unknown
pressure. For example, consider a U-
tube manometer that is used to
measure pressure pA in some kind of
tank or machine.
Finally, note that in many cases (such

as with air pressure being measured
by a mercury manometer), the density
of manometer fluid 2 is much greater
than that of fluid 1. In such cases, the
last term on the right is sometimes
neglected.
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Differential manometer
A differential manometer can be used
to measure the difference in pressure
between two containers or two points
in the same system. Again, on
equating the pressures at points
labeled (2) and (3), we may get an
expression for the pressure difference
between A and B:
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Inverted U-tube Differential manometers
At datum x - x
P1  P 2
PA   A g (h1 )  PB   B g (h2 )   liquid gh
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Inverted U-tube Differential manometers-Example
x-x
P1  P 2
PA  2 1000  9.81  19620 N/m 2
PA   A g (h1 )  PB   B g (h2 )   liquid gh

19620  1000  9.81 0.3  PB  1000  9.81 0.1  800  9.81 0.15
PB  18835 N/m 2  18.8 kN/m 2
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Inclined-tube manometer
As shown above, the differential reading is proportional to the pressure
difference. If the pressure difference is very small, the reading may be too
small to be measured with good accuracy. To increase the sensitivity of
the differential reading, one leg of the manometer can be inclined at an
angle θ, and the differential reading is measured along the inclined tube.
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The Manometer An elevation change of

z in a fluid at rest
corresponds to P/g.
A device based on this is
called a manometer.
A manometer consists of
a U-tube containing one
or more fluids such as
mercury, water, alcohol,
or oil.
Heavy fluids such as
mercury are used if large
P1  P2 pressure differences are
anticipated.
P2  Patm   gh
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Mutlifluid Manometer
For multi-fluid systems
Pressure change across a fluid
column of height h is P = gh.
Pressure increases downward,
and decreases upward.
Two points at the same
elevation in a continuous fluid
are at the same pressure.
Pressure can be determined by
adding and subtracting gh
terms.
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Example:U-tube manometer
containing mercury was used to
find the negative pressure in the
pipe, containing water. The right
limb was open to the atmosphere.
Find the vacuum pressure in the
pipe, if the difference of mercury
level in the two limbs was 100
mm and height of water in the left
limb from the centre of the pipe
was found to be 40 mm below.
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General Example
The atmospheric pressure is 755 mm of mercury
(sp. Gravity = 13.6), calculate
i) Absolute pressure of air in the tank,
ii) Pressure gauge reading at L.
ESOE 505221
EGGD3109 Fluid
Fluid Mechanics
General Example
The atmospheric pressure is 755 mm of mercury
(sp. Gravity = 13.6), calculate
i) Absolute pressure of air in the tank,
ii) Pressure gauge reading at L.
P1  P 2
0  Pair   mercury g (hmercury )
Pair  13.6  103 * 9.81* 0.6  80kN / m 2
Pabs  Pair  Patm. 
Patm.  0.755 *13600 * 9.81  100.73kN / m 2
Pabs  80  103  100.73  20.73kN / m 2
PL  Pair   water gh  80  103  1000 * 9.81* 2  60.38kN / m 2
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Measuring Pressure Drops
Manometers are well--
suited to measure
pressure drops across
valves, pipes, heat
exchangers, etc.
Relation for pressure
drop P1-P2 is obtained by
starting at point 1 and
adding or subtracting gh
terms until we reach point
2.
If fluid in pipe is a gas,
2>>1 and P1-P2 gh
(Mistyped on page 73)
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The Barometer
Atmospheric pressure is
measured by a device called a
barometer; thus, atmospheric
pressure is often referred to as
the barometric pressure.
PC can be taken to be zero
since there is only Hg vapor
above point C, and it is very
low relative to Patm.
Change in atmospheric
pressure due to elevation has
many effects: Cooking, nose
bleeds, engine performance,
PC   gh  Patm aircraft performance.
Patm   gh
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The Barometer
Standard atmosphere is defined as the pressure

produced by a column of mercury 760 mm (29.92 inHg
or of water about 10.3 m ) in height at 0°C (Hg =
13,595 kg/m3) under standard gravitational
acceleration (g = 9.807 m/s2).
1 atm = 760 torr and 1 torr = 133.3 Pa
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Pressure

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Pressure

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Pressure and Fluid Statics

1 bar = 105 Pa = 0.1 MPa = 100 kPa

By considering the equilibrium of a small triangular wedge of fluid extracted

Pressure at any point

This result is known as Pascal's law, which states that the

Therefore, the hydrostatic pressure

Actual pressure at a given point is called

•By this rule p1 = p2 and p4 = p5

•p2 does not equal p3 even

Any free surface open to the The shape of a container does

Pressure applied to a confined

Ratio A2/A1 is called ideal

This method can only be used for

Finally, note that in many cases (such

PA   A g (h1 )  PB   B g (h2 )   liquid gh

The Manometer An elevation change of

Standard atmosphere is defined as the pressure

1 atm = 760 torr and 1 torr = 133.3 Pa

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