FLUID STATICS

Asnaifa B. Pangandaman, MST

 Activity

1. Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and

gases.

2. Define fluid in your own words.

What Is a Fluid?
• Matter exists as a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma.
• Solids have a definite shape and a specific volume.
• Liquids have a definite volume but their shape changes depending on
the container in which they are held.
• Gases have neither a definite shape nor a specific volume as their
molecules move to fill the container in which they are held.
• Plasmas also have neither definite shape nor volume.
 Solids
• Atoms in solids are in close contact, with forces between them that allow the atoms
to vibrate but not to change positions with neighboring atoms. (These forces can be
thought of as springs that can be stretched or compressed, but not easily broken.)
• A solid cannot be easily deformed because the atoms that make up the solid are not
able to move about freely.
• Solids also resist compression, because their atoms form part of a lattice structure in
which the atoms are a relatively fixed distance apart. Under compression, the atoms
would be forced into one another.
Liquids
• Liquids deform easily when stressed and do not spring back to their original
shape once the force is removed because the atoms are free to slide about
and change neighbors—that is, they flow (so they are a type of fluid), with
the molecules held together by their mutual attraction.
• When a liquid is placed in a container with no lid on, it remains in the
container (providing the container has no holes below the surface of the
liquid!). Because the atoms are closely packed, liquids, like solids, resist
compression.
 Gases
• Atoms in gases and charged particles in plasmas are separated by distances that
are large compared with the size of the particles.
• The forces between the particles are therefore very weak, except when they
collide with one another.
• Gases and plasmas thus not only flow (and are therefore considered to be
fluids) but they are relatively easy to compress because there is much space and
little force between the particles.
• When placed in an open container gases, unlike liquids, will escape. The major
distinction is that gases are easily compressed, whereas liquids are not. Plasmas
are difficult to contain because they have so much energy.
• Gases and liquids have atoms that have greater freedom of
movement which enables them to flow and take shape of their
containers.
• Thus, both gases and liquids are called fluids because of their
ability to flow, generally and there are distinction between them
only when they behave differently.
Density
• Density, as you will see, is an important characteristic of substances. It is crucial,
for example, in determining whether an object
• sinks or floats in a fluid. Density is the mass per unit volume of a substance or
object. In equation form, density is defined as

• where the Greek letter (rho) is the symbol for density, is the mass, and is the volume
occupied by the substance.
• SI Unit is kg/m3
Calculating the Mass of a Reservoir From Its Volume
Sample problem:
A reservoir has a surface area of 50.0 km2 and an average depth of 40.0 m.
What mass of water is held behind the dam? (See Figure 11.5 for a view of a
large reservoir—the Three Gorges Dam site on the Yangtze River in central
China.)

• We can calculate the volume of the reservoir from its dimensions, and find
the density of water in Table 11.1. Then the mass m can be found from the
definition of density.
• Solution
• Solving equation
Short Quiz (1/2 CW)
1. A rock has a mass of 210 grams and occupies a volume of 70 cm3. What
is its density?
2. An unknown liquid occupies a volume of 5 ml and has a mass
of 40 grams. Find its density.
3. A rectangular solid of unknown density is 5 meters long, 2
meters high, and 4 meters wide. The mass of this solid is 30
grams. Given these data, calculate its density.
4. A 5.0 m3 container is filled with oil. Calculate the density of the oil if
the mass of the oil in the container is 2.5 kg.

5. Calculate the density of gasoline if its mass is measured to be 200 kg

in a 0.267 m3 barrel.
 Pressure
• Pressure being used in relation to blood (high or low blood pressure) and in
relation to the weather (high- and low-pressure weather systems). These are only
two of many examples of pressures in fluids. Pressure is defined as

where is a force acting perpendicularly on an area.

Fluid pressure is the force exerted on or by the fluid per unit area. This is the result
of the molecular collisions in fluids.
Units of Pressure
• The SI unit for pressure is the pascal, where
• Atmospheric pressure (atm) is often described in units of millibar (mb), where

• Pounds per square inch (lb/in2 or psi) - measure of

tire pressure,
• Millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) used in the
measurement of blood pressure.
• Torr
 Common Devices for Measuring Fluid Pressure
• 1. Mercury barometer – measures atmospheric pressure which is expressed in
cm Hg or mm Hg.

• 2. Sphygmomanometer – measures human blood pressure

(mm Hg).
• Consider a beaker which contains water
at a height h. if you double the height
of water, it also doubles its weight, then
the pressure against the bottom of the
beaker becomes twice as great.
• P exer ted by the liquid is directly
proportional to its depth.
Fg = mg
if the mass of water is equal to ρV and the volume V is equal to the base A
multiplied by the h height of the water, then the equation becomes
Fg = ρAg
substitute,
P = Fg = ρAg or P = ρhg where P is directly proportional to h and ρ
A A of a fluid.
• In the case of atmospheric pressure, the density gradually decreases with
increasing altitude. The density of the atmospheric pressure is maximum at
sea level and at minimum level at the top of mountains.
Example: Calculate the P of water at the bottom of swimming pool which
is 1.8 m deep.
Pascal’s Principle
• The pressure P exerted on a confined liquid is transmitted undiminished by
the fluid in all directions.
• The total P bottom of the swimming pool is the sum of the pressure due to
the weight of water and atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure acts
on water and is transmitted to the bottom of the pool by the water.
• Applications: hydraulic jack, car breaks, dentist’s chair
• The input Force (Fi) is applied to the input piston Area (Ai). The input
Pressure (Pi) exerted on the input piston is Pi=Fi/Ai
The pressure due to Fi is transmitted through the system equally in all
directions by the compressed air. The compressed air exerts an upward pressure
upon the large piston, causing an object to be lifted. The output pressure is
Po=Fo/Ao.
Applying Pascals law,
Po= Pi or Fo/Ao = Fi/Ai
Examples:
1. A dentist’s chair makes use of the Pascals principle to move patient’s up
and down. Together, the chair and a patient exert a downward force of 2,269 N.
The chair is attached to a large piston with an area of 1,221 cm2. To move the
chair, a pump applies force to a small piston with an are of 88.12 cm2. What
force must be exerted on the small piston to lift the chair?
2. A hydraulic lift office chair has its seat attached to a piston area of 11.2 cm2.
The chair is raised by exerting force on another piston, with an area of 4.12
cm2. If Ayeesha is sitting on a chair exerts a downward force of 219 N, what
force needs to be exerted on small piston to lift the seat?
Quiz
 Buoyancy and Archimedes’ Principle
• Buoyant force, FB - an upward force acting on submerged object,
then there must be an upward pressure acting on the same object.
- a net upward force on the bottom of an object in a fluid which
is greater than the downward force on the top of the object
• Archimedes- discovered that the buoyant force on body immersed in
a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by that object,
Archimedes’ Principle.
• If the buoyant force is greater than the object’s weight, the object
will rise to the surface and float.
• If the buoyant force is less than the object’s weight, the object will
sink.
• If the buoyant force equals the object’s weight, the object will remain
suspended at that depth.
• The buoyant force is always present whether the object floats, sinks, or is
suspended in a fluid.
 In liquids, FB is measured by finding the difference in the weight
of an object when weighed in air and in liquid.
FB = weight in air - weight in liquid or
FB = loss of weight of an object
Loss of weight of an object = Weight of fluid displaced
Therefore,
FB = weight of the fluid displaced
 Archimedes’ Principle

• According to this principle the buoyant force on an object

equals the weight of the fluid it displaces. In equation form,
Archimedes’ principle is

where is the buoyant force FB and is the weight of the fluid wfl
displaced by the object.
Making Connections: Take-Home Investigation
• The density of aluminum foil is 2.7 times the density of water.
Take a piece of foil, roll it up into a ball and drop it into water.
• Does it sink? Why or why not? Can you make it sink?
Floating and Sinking
• Drop a lump of clay in water. Will it sink or float?
• Then mold the lump of clay into the shape of a boat. What will
happen then? Will it sink or float?
• Justify your answers.
• Buoyant force is also dependent on the density of fluid displaced.
The higher its density, the greater is the buoyant force.

• Archimedes’ principle is applied in building of ships and

submarines. The shape of the body the ship is designed ot only to
minimize water resistance but also to increase the amount of water
it can displace, so they don’t sink!
• Calculating buoyant force: dependency on shape
(a) Calculate the buoyant force on 10,000 metric tons (1.0 x 107 kg) of solid
steel completely submerged in water, and compare this with the steel’s weight.
(b) What is the maximum buoyant force that water could exert on this same
steel if it were shaped into a boat that could displace 1.0 x 10 5 m 3 of water?
• Strategy for (a)
• To find the buoyant force, we must find the weight of water displaced. We
can do this by using the densities of water and steel given in Table 11.1. We
note that, since the steel is completely submerged, its volume and the water’s
volume are the same. Once we know the volume of water, we can find its
mass and weight.
• Solution for (a)
• First, we use the definition of density to find the steel’s volume, and
then we substitute values for mass and density. This gives

• Because the steel is completely submerged, this is also the volume of water
displaced, V w . We can now find the mass of water displaced from the
relationship between its volume and density, both of which are known. This
gives
• By Archimedes’ principle, the weight of water displaced is mw g , so the buoyant
force is

The steel’s weight is , which is much greater than the buoyant force, so the steel will
remain submerged.
Strategy for (b)
Here, we are given the maximum volume of water the steel boat can displace. The
buoyant force is the weight of this volume of water.
Solution for (b)
The mass of water displaced is found from its relationship to density and
volume, both of which are known. That is,
• The maximum buoyant force is the weight of this much water, or

• The maximum buoyant force is ten times the weight of the steel, meaning
the ship can carry a load nine times its own weight without sinking.

Apparent weight is equal to the actual weight less the buoyant force pushing
up on the object. If the object sinks to the bottom, the apparent weight would
be the same as the ormal force of the object.
2) A block of wood with a volume of 0.1 m3 floats in water. If the density of
water is 1000 kg/m3 , what is the buoyant force acting on the block?
Note: Since the block is floating, it displaces a volume of water equal to its own
volume, which is 0.1 m3 .
(weight of displaced water) w = mg and m= ρV
Therefore,
w = (1000 kg/m3 ) (0.1 m3) (9.8 m/s2)
= 980 N
so, the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the displaced water, which is 980 N.
 Buoyancy in Air
• Archimedes’ Principle also applies to bodies in air. These bodies are buoyed up by forces
due to the weight of air they displace.
• There is no BF in a vacuum.
Ex: A balloon weighs 500 kg of force when empty. It is inflated to a volume of 4,000
cubic meters by filling it with hydrogen with a density of 0.09 kg/m3. Assuming the density
of air to be 1.3 kg/m3,
a) what is the buoyant force on the balloons?
b) what is the net upward force on the balloon at sea level?
ü Net upward force is called net lifting capacity of an object in air which is the
difference between the buoyant force and the total weight.
ü The total weight is the weight of empty balloon plus the weight of the hydrogen
gas filling it.
Elasticity of an Ideal Gas Law; Boyle’s Law
• Gases are highly compressible but are also elastic.
• Boyle’s Law
- provided that the temperature is kept constant, the volume of a given mass
of gas is inversely proportional to the pressure.
P1V1 = P2V2
- states that if a gas is confined at a constant temperature T during a change in
pressure P, the product of the initial volume and the initial pressure is equal to the
product of the final pressure and final volume.
Ex:
A cetain amount of gas occupies a volume of 0.4 m3 when the pressure is
103 pascals. At this pressure, the density of the gas is 0.08 kg/m3.
a) What pressure will reduce the volume to 0.3 m3?
b) What will be the density of the same gas at a pressure of 2x104 pascals,
assuming a constant temperature?
Quiz
 Hydrodynamics - fluids in motion
Hydrodynamics - study of fluids in motion.

ØCharacteristics of fluid flow

Types of fluid flow:
1. streamline or laminar flow - if the flow of
fluid is smooth and the path taken by each particle
are parallel to each other. Ex: smoothly f;pwing of
river, gentle movement of wind
2. turbulent flow - marked by irregular
motion of the fluid. Ex: flowing water hits rocks,
wind during stormy days
• In pipes, the flow of fluid may be laminar or turbulent. It is laminar if the fluid
flows through straight pipe or uniform diameter and the quantity of fluid that
passes in the pipe is constant.
• If the quantity of fluid passing a point in the pipe is not constant nor does it
flow smoothly, then the flow is turbulent, y due to dufferences in the size of
flow or sudden change in velocity.
EQUATION OF CONTINUITY
Flow rate (Q) - amount of fluid passing through a pipe.
Q = ρAv
where A is the cross-sectional area of pipe and v is the velocity of the fluid
• When the fluids flow fully through a pipe of varying cross-sectional area,
Q1 = Q2
ρ1 A1 v1 = ρ2A2 v2 this is the equation of continuity
If the fluid is incompressible under the conditions being considered, then
ρ1 = ρ2 then the equation become A 1 v1 = A 2 v2 which says that if the cross-
sectional area is small, the velocity of flow is high and vice versa while keeping
flow rate constant.
Ex:
1. The blood flow from the aorta of radius is 1.0 cm to the capillaries in
which the total section is 0.07 m 2 . The average speed of the blood in these
capillaries is 9.0 x 10 -4 m/s. Calculate the speed of blood flowing through the
aorta.

2. The cross-sectional area os a small pipe at point A is 6 cm2 and at another

point B is 2 cm2 .If the velocity of the flowing liquid at A is 1m/s, then what is
the velocity at B?