Experiment No.

3
Measurement of Pressure using Manometer
Objective:
The activity aims to determine the pressure at various depths of fluids
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):
The students shall be able to:
1. Understand the relationship of pressure and depth of fluid
2. Expand the knowledge on other uses of Manometer in other experiments.
3. Apply the techniques and skills in using manometers relevant to professional engineering practice.
Discussion:

Fluid pressure intensity is the force exerted per unit of area, If F represents the total force on a area A, and dF is
the elemental force on an elemental area dA, the intensity or pressure is,

𝑑𝐹
𝑑𝑃 = (2.1)
𝑑𝐴

If the pressure is uniform all over the area A, then,

𝐹
𝑃= (2.2)
𝐴

Where: P = pressure in Pa
F= force in N
A= area in m2

Also: 𝛾 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ↓= +

𝑑𝑃 = +𝛾𝑑ℎ
𝑃1 ℎ1
∫ 𝑑𝑃 = 𝛾 ∫ 𝑑ℎ
0 0

𝑃1 − 0 = 𝛾(ℎ1 − 0)

𝑃 = 𝛾ℎ (2.3)

Where: 𝛾 = specific weight of fluid in kN/m3

h = height of fluid in m
Experimental Set-up:

Air ~ PA
Oil/ Kerosene/ Diesel
hA PB = 0

hL
hW hW
hL

Water

Before Application of Pressure After Application of Pressure

Resources/Instruments Required:

• U- Tube manometer
• Rubber tubing
• Glass Funnel
• Ruler
• Bourdon Gage
• Aspirator
• 3 liquid with known specific gravity
• Water

Procedure:

1. Tie a piece of thin sheet of rubber over a large end of the thistle tube/funnel.

2. Slip a piece of rubber tubing over the smaller end of the funnel, the other end of the rubber tubing to the
U-tube manometer. The U-tube manometer should contain a colored liquid.

3. Tabulate the results.

4. Try other liquid if possible.

Formula:

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 + 𝛾𝑤 𝑌 − 𝛾𝑤 𝑌 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 + 𝛾𝑤 𝑌 − 𝛾𝑤 𝑌 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵
Data and Results:

Oil
Pressure Pressure
Trial hliquid (cm) hw (cm)
(experimental) (theoretical)
1 9.2 13.4 1 KPa 0.513 KPa
2 9.2 16.2 2 KPa 0.788 KPa
3 9.2 18.7 3 KPa 1.033 KPa

Diesel
Pressure Pressure
Trial hliquid (cm) hw (cm)
(experimental) (theoretical)
1 7.3 10.7 2 KPa 0.457 KPa
2 7.3 13 3 KPa 0.682 KPa
3 7.3 15.5 4 KPa 0.928 KPa

Kerosene
Pressure Pressure
Trial hliquid (cm) hw (cm)
(experimental) (theoretical)
1 10.5 7.5 1 KPa -0.060 KPa
2 10.5 12.9 3 KPa 0.469 KPa
3 10.5 17.5 5 KPa 0.921 KPa

Computation:

Oil
Solution:

Trial 1

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.888 × 9.81 )(0.092 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.134 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.513 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 2

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0
 𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.888 × 9.81 )(0.092𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.162 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.788 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 3

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑜𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.888 × 9.81 )(0.092 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.187 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 1.033 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Diesel
Solution:

Trial 1

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 ℎ𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.828 × 9.81 )(0.073 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.107 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.457 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 2

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 ℎ𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0
 𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.828 × 9.81 )(0.073 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.13 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.682 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 3

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 ℎ𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.828 × 9.81 )(0.073 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.155 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.928 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Kerosene
Solution:

Trial 1

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.773 × 9.81 )(0.105 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.075 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = −0.060 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 2

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0
 𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.773 × 9.81 )(0.105 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.129 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.469 𝐾𝑃𝑎

Trial 3

𝑃𝐴 + 𝛾𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 𝑃𝐵

𝑃𝐴 + (𝑆𝐺𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝛾𝑤 )ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑙 − 𝛾𝑤 ℎ𝑤 = 0

𝐾𝑁 𝐾𝑁
𝑃𝐴 + (0.773 × 9.81 )(0.105 𝑚) − (9.81 )(0.175 𝑚) = 0
𝑚3 𝑚3
𝑃𝐴 = 0.921 𝐾𝑃𝑎
Documentation:

Members of Group 6 with the tools Putting marks at the back of the manometer,
and materials. ready for measuring the height of liquids.

Tools and Equipment used for the Pouring of Diesel to the u-tube
Laboratory Experiment. manometer.

Measuring the height of liquids. Applying air pressure inside the u-

Observation:

As we were conducting the experiment, we observed that there were some instances that could have major
effects on the collection of data. Those factors include the initial air pressure applied by the aspirator and pressure
gauge scale as they were connected to the u-tube manometer. Also, there was a small possibility that the gauge
pressure was not giving an accurate reading of pressure. All these factors might be the cause of errors in the
collection of data which resulted to a relatively large difference between the experimentally and theoretically
observed pressures.
Moreover, we noticed that the calculated (theoretical) pressure in the first trial with kerosene is negative,
which denotes a vacuum pressure even if it supposed to be a gauge pressure. This kind of phenomenon might be
due to one of the factors mentioned above. This could be because the initial air pressure generated by the pressure
gauge scale was greater than that of the aspirator plus the applied pressure.

Conclusion:

After conducting the experiment, we can conclude that the experimentally observed pressures were not the
same as with theoretical ones. Which is due to some factors that we were not responsible of. Therefore, it is not
practical to measure pressures experimentally and theoretically at the same time. However, this is not applicable
to all, because eliminating those factors as much as possible would generate better results.
In this experiment, we were not able to prove the theory in calculating pressure on a specific fluid based on
its height or depth. Nevertheless, this investigation does not and will definitely not invalidate the concept of fluid
mechanics.