FLUID MECHANICS
CHAPTER-3
TUTORIAL
Q1. Express Pascal’s law, and give a real-world example of it.
Pascal’s law states that the pressure applied to a confined fluid increases
the pressure throughout by the same amount. This is a consequence of the
pressure in a fluid remaining constant in the horizontal direction. An
example of Pascal’s principle is the operation of the hydraulic car jack.
Q2. Under what conditions can a moving body of fluid be treated as a rigid
body?
A moving body of fluid can be treated as a rigid body when there are no
shear stresses (i.e., no motion between fluid layers relative to each other) in
the fluid body
Q3. Consider a glass of water. Compare the water pressures at the bottom
surface for the following cases: the glass is (a) stationary, (b) moving up at
constant velocity, (c) moving down at constant velocity, and (d) moving
horizontally at constant velocity.
The water pressure at the bottom surface is the same for all cases since the
acceleration for all four cases is Zero
1. A 6-m-high, 5-m-wide rectangular plate blocks the end of a 5-m-
deep freshwater channel, as shown below. The plate is hinged about
a horizontal axis along its upper edge through a point A and is
restrained from opening by a fixed ridge at point B. Determine the
force exerted on the plate by the ridge.
The resultant hydrostatic force on the wall is
The line of action of the force passes through the pressure center, which is 2h /3 from the
free surface,
Taking the moment about point A and setting it equal to zero gives
2. Determine the resultant force acting on the 0.7-m-high
and 0.7-m-wide triangular gate shown in below and its line
of action
3. A 3-m-high, 6-m-wide rectangular gate is hinged
at the top edge at A and is restrained by a fixed ridge at B.
Determine the hydrostatic force exerted on the gate by the 5-m-
high water and the location of the pressure center.
4. Surface AB is a circular arc with a radius of 2m and a width of 1m into the
paper. The distance EB is 4 m. The fluid above surface AB is water, and
atmospheric pressure prevails on the free surface of the water and on the
bottom side of surface AB. Find the magnitude and line of action of the
hydrostatic force acting on surface AB.
5. The 280-kg, 6-m-wide rectangular gate shown in the figure below is hinged
at B and leans against the floor at A making an angle of 45° with the horizontal.
The gate is to be opened from its lower edge by applying a normal force at its
center. Determine the minimum force F required to open the water gate. Take
the density of water to be 1000 kg/ throughout.
6. The water in a 25-m-deep reservoir is kept inside by a 150-m-
wide wall whose cross section is an equilateral triangle, as shown
below. Determine (a) the total force (hydrostatic + atmospheric)
acting on the inner surface of the wall and its line of action and (b)
the magnitude of the horizontal component of this force.