8Ic

Pressure in
Fluids
 Learning
objectives:
1. Describe how fluid pressure changes with depth or height.
2. Describe how gas pressure can be increased.
3. Explain some effects of pressure in different situations using the
particle model.
8Ic Pressure in Fluids

To understand the lesson better…

Let us first do some review about
PRESSURE.
 What is Pressure?

■ Pressure refers to a force pushing

on a surface.

What are some examples of pressure?

1. Leaning against a wall
2. Standing on the ground
 Forces and Pressure

Why does the woman wearing snow shoes

stay on top of the snow and the two girls sink
into the snow?
 Forces and Pressure
The downward force, your weight, exerted
on the snow does not change, so what is
the difference?

The difference is the size of the area over

which your weight is distributed.

When your weight is distributed over the

larger area of the snowshoes, there is less
downward pressure on the snow under the
shoes.
 Calculating Pressure
Pressure = Force
Area

Force is measured in Newtons

Area is measured in m2
Pressure is measured in N/m2

The unit for pressure is also called a Pascal

1 N/m2 = 1 Pa
Calculating Pressure
 Fluid Pressure

A fluid is a substance that can easily flow.

A fluid is able to change shape, therefore

liquids and gases are both fluids.
 Fluids

Fluids exert pressure against the surfaces they

touch. In fluids, molecules are constantly
moving in all directions and colliding with each
other and any surface they meet.
 Fluid Pressure
■ As each molecule collides with a surface, it
exerts a force on the surface.

■ All of the forces exerted by the individual

molecules in a fluid add together to make up
the pressure exerted by the fluid.

■ Fluid pressure is the total force exerted by

the fluid divided over the area over which the
force is exerted.
 Fluid Pressure All Around

Pressure exerted by the air

is called air pressure or
atmospheric pressure.
Air exerts pressure because
it has mass. (About 1 kg
for every 1 m3)
The force of gravity on the
mass of air produces an
average air pressure (at
sea level) of 10.13 N/cm2.
 Balanced Pressures

Why doesn’t the pressure of the

air around you crush you?

The reason is because the

pressure inside your body
balances the pressure outside
of your body.
 Balanced Pressures

Some parts of your body, such as your lungs,

sinus cavities, and inner ear, contain air.
Other parts of your body, such as your cells
and blood vessels, contain liquids.
Variations in Fluid Pressure

Have you ever had your ears “pop” when you

drive up the side of a mountain? Why?

Air pressure decreases as elevation increases.

Variations in Fluid Pressure

When the air pressure outside of your body

changes, the air pressure inside will adjust
too, but more slowly. For a moment, the air
pressure behind your eardrums is greater
than it is outside. Your body releases this
pressure with a pop so that the pressures are
once again balanced.
Variations in Fluid Pressure

What do you feel when you swim down to the

bottom of a deep pool or lake? Why?

Water pressure increases as depth increases.

Variations in Fluid Pressure

The water pressure increases as you go down

because there is more water above you. In
addition, air in the atmosphere is pushing
down on the water. The total pressure below
the water results from the weight of the water
and air above you.
 BREAKOUT ROOM ACTIVITY

8Ic Pressure in Fluids (pages 140 – 141)

8Ic Q and A
1 What causes pressure in fluids?
- particles hitting the walls of a container/particles hitting something in the fluid
2 Look at photo B. Explain why the two hemispheres cannot be pulled apart when some of
the air has been sucked out of the space between them.
- The air pressure outside is greater than the air pressure inside because some air has
been removed. This means there is a greater force pushing them together than pulling
them apart
3 Give two ways in which the pressure of the fluid can be increased. Explain your
answer.
- any two from: put more particles into a container (if there are more particles there will
be more collisions with the walls of the container and so the total force from the particles
on the area will be increased)
heat the fluid (if the fluid is heated the particles will move around faster and the
collisions will be harder, so the total force will be increased)
make the volume of the container smaller (if the volume is decreased the particles don’t
have to move as far before they hit the walls again, so there will be more collisions)
8Ic Q and A
4 a. Use ideas about the particles to explain why there is less pressure on
you from the air if you go up a high mountain.
- There is less air above you so the particles are further apart. Not as many particles
hit you each second, so the pressure from the air on you is less.
b. Explain why the mountaineer in photo D needs to wear an oxygen mask.
- There are fewer particles in each lungful of air, so each breath will not get as much
oxygen into the body. The oxygen mask provides extra oxygen.
5 Look at the photos in E. Explain why the bag looks different in the two photos, using ideas
about particles and pressure.
- When the bag was sealed at sea level, there were a certain number of air particles in it,
giving the same pressure inside the bag as outside it. When the bag is taken up a high
mountain, the pressure outside the bag is less. This means there are more particles hitting
the inside of the bag than the outside, so the bag bulges outwards.
8Ic Q and A
6 The steel walls of the pressure sphere on the Trieste (photo C) were over
12 cm thick. This is much thicker than the steel that ships are made
from. Explain why the walls needed to be so thick.
- They had to withstand much higher pressure than the sides of ships, because the
Trieste went down to the deepest part of the ocean where the pressures are very high.
7 A diver will experience twice atmospheric pressure by descending just 10 m below the
surface of the sea, but you need to climb over 5000 m above sea level before air pressure
is halved. Explain this statement in as much detail as you can.
- Pressure is caused by particles in the fluid hitting us. The particles in a liquid are
much closer together than the particles in a gas, so there are many more of them hitting
each square centimetre of our skin. Pressure also depends on the weight of the fluid
above us. Water is much denser than air, so the change of pressure with depth/height is
greater.