Chapter 2

HYDROSTATICS
& PRESSURE
• Hydrostatics is the study of fluids in
which there is no relative motion
between the fluid particles.
• If there is no relative motion, no
shearing stresses to be present.
• The only stress that exists is a
normal stress, the pressure, so it is
the pressure that is primary interest
in hydrostatics.
Fluid Statics
Fluid Statics deals with problems associated
with fluids at rest.
In fluid statics, there is no relative motion
between adjacent fluid layers.
Therefore, there is no shear stress in the fluid
trying to deform it.
The only stress in fluid statics is normal stress
Normal stress is due to pressure
Variation of pressure is due only to the weight of the
fluid → fluid statics is only relevant in presence of
gravity fields.
Applications: Floating or submerged bodies,
water dams and gates, liquid storage tanks, etc.
Hoover Dam
2.1 Pressure at a Point
• Pressure: the normal force per unit area at a
given point acting on a given plane within the
fluid mass of interest.
• How the pressure at a point varies with the
orientation of the plane passing through the
point?
• Since we are considering the situation in which there are no shearing
stresses, the only external forces acting on the wedge are due to the
pressure and the weight.
• To make the analysis as general as possible, we will allow the fluid element
to have accelerated motion.
 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧
∑𝐹𝑦 = 𝑝𝑦 δ𝑥δ𝑧 − 𝑝𝑠 δ𝑥δ𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 θ = ρ 𝑎𝑦
2
δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧 δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧
∑𝐹𝑧 = 𝑝𝑧 δ𝑥δ𝑦 − 𝑝𝑠 δ𝑥δ𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑠 θ − γ =ρ 𝑎𝑧
2 2
If you replace
δ𝑦 = δ𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑠 θ and δ𝑧 = δ𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 θ
Then the equations become:
δ𝑦
𝑝𝑦 − 𝑝𝑠 = ρ 𝑎𝑦
2
δ𝑧
𝑝𝑧 − 𝑝𝑠 = (ρ𝑎𝑧 + γ)
2
• For a point δx, δy and δz approach to zero!
Therefore,
𝑝𝑦 = 𝑝𝑠
𝑝𝑧 = 𝑝𝑠
Then,
𝑝𝑠 = 𝑝𝑦 = 𝑝𝑧
This tells us that the pressure at a
point in a fluid at rest, or in motion,
is independent of direction as long
as there are no shearing stresses!
>> Pascal’s Law
• Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
• For moving fluids in which there is relative
motion between particles (so that shear
stresses develop), the normal stress at a
point is not necessarily the same in all
directions!
Governing Equation
• How does the pressure in a fluid in which
there are no shearing stresses vary from one
point to another?
• To answer this question, we will consider a
small rectangular fluid element removed
from an arbitrary position within the fluid
mass.
• There are two types of forces acting on this
element (also on fluids)
1. Surface forces >> due to the pressure
2. Body forces >> due to weight of the
element (there might be magnetic field
forces also)
• If the pressure at the center of the element is
p, then,
• The pressures at the faces can be obtained
using Taylor Series Expansion (by
neglecting high order terms):
• Force can be obtained by multiplying the
pressure with the area.
• The resultant force in y-direction is:
𝜕𝑝 δ𝑦 𝜕𝑝 δ𝑦
δ𝐹𝑦 = 𝑝 − δ𝑥δ𝑧 − 𝑝 + δ𝑥δ𝑧
𝜕𝑦 2 𝜕𝑦 2
𝜕𝑝
δ𝐹𝑦 = − δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧
𝜕𝑦
• If you write the resultant forces in x and z directions, you
will obtain:
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
δ𝐹𝑥 = − δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧 and δ𝐹𝑧 = − δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧
• What will be the total resultant force acting
on the element?
δ𝐹𝑠 = δ𝐹𝑥 + δ𝐹𝑦 + δ𝐹𝑧
• Is above representation correct?
• We should use vector notation!
δ𝐹𝑠 = δ𝐹𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + δ𝐹𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + δ𝐹𝑧 𝑘෠
By inserting 𝜕Fx , 𝜕Fy , 𝜕Fz
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
δ𝐹𝑠 = − 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠ δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
• What are the terms given in the parenthesis ?
• Derivative of pressure in three dimensions!
• Derivative of a function in three dimensions
can be presented with gradient:
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
𝛻 = 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
Then, the pressure gradient can be written
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
𝛻𝑝 = 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
where 𝛻 is the gradient or del operator
• After re-arranging the resultant force
equation, we can obtain the resultant force
per unit volume:
δ𝐹𝑠
= −𝛻𝑝
δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧

• The weight of the element (body force

applied on the element):
−δ𝑊 𝑘෠ = −γ δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧𝑘෠
• Now we have derived resultant surface and body
forces acting on the element.
• Lets apply Newton’s 2nd law of motion:
∑δ𝐹 = δ𝑚𝑎
in above equation ∑δ𝐹 is the resultant force acting
on the element. Then, the upper equation
becomes:
−𝛻𝑝δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧 − γ δ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧𝑘෠ = ρδ𝑥δ𝑦δ𝑧𝑎
after simplification:

−𝛻𝑝 − γ𝑘෠ = ρ𝑎 → Differential equation of motion

 −𝛻𝑝 − γ𝑘෠ = ρ𝑎
• The above equation is also called as Euler equation. It
defines the motion of a fluid in which there are no
shearing stresses. In explicit form:
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
− 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑘෠ − ρ𝑔𝑘෠ = ρ 𝑎𝑥 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗Ƹ + 𝑎𝑧 ෡
𝑘
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
Therefore,
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
𝜕𝑥
= −ρ𝑎𝑥 𝜕𝑦
= −ρ𝑎𝑦 𝜕𝑧
= −ρ(𝑎𝑧 +𝑔)
 Pressure Distribution in an
Incompressible Fluid at Rest
• For a fluid at rest 𝑎 = 0 ! Therefore the
equation of motion reduces to
−𝛻𝑝 − γ𝑘෠ = 0
𝛻𝑝 + γ𝑘෠ = 0
and
𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝 𝜕𝑝
=0 =0 = −γ
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧

• What do the upper relationships mean?

• They tell that the pressure in a fluid at rest does
not depend on x or y !
• Therefore in a horizontal plane, the pressure
does not change!
y

x
• The differential equation reduces to
∂p
=−γ
∂z
• The above equation is the fundamental equation
for fluids at rest.
• It shows how pressure changes with the elevation.

• The pressure decreases

when we move upward
in a fluid at rest!
• If the fluid is flowing , the pressure distribution
is very complex:
• The pressure in fluids at rest is a function of γ
and γ = ρ𝑔
• We can assume that g is constant for most
engineering applications. However fluid density
may vary depending its bulk modulus
(compressibility)!
• The fluid with constant density is called
incompressible fluid.
• As we seen when defining bulk modulus, for
liquids the variation in density is usually
negligible.
• Let’s integrate the differential equation of the
fluid at rest:
𝑝2 𝑧2
න 𝑑𝑝 = −γ න 𝑑𝑧
𝑝1 𝑧1
𝑝2 − 𝑝1 = −γ 𝑧2 − 𝑧1
𝑝2 − 𝑝1 = −γℎ
𝑝1 = γℎ + 𝑝2
• The variation in the pressure defined with the
above equation is called as hydrostatic
pressure distribution.
• The hydrostatic pressure distribution equation
shows that the pressure varies linearly with depth.
• We have specified the distance between two
points as h
• This h is defined as the pressure head and
interpreted as the height of a column of fluid of
specific weight γ required to give a pressure
difference 𝑝1 − 𝑝2
Example • The water column in the
left weighs 45 N. If the
cross sectional area of the
column is 6.45 cm2
determine the height of the
column (pressure head).
?
• When working with liquids which have a free
surface as in our case, this surface is used as
a reference plane. The pressure is at this
plane, 𝑝0 is the atmospheric pressure.
• The atmospheric pressure at the sea level is
101.30 kPa
• If you measure the pressure relative to
absolute zero pressure this pressure is called
absolute pressure.
• If you measure the pressure relative to the
local atmospheric pressure it is called gauge
pressure.
patm
zs
p  pabsolute  patm  d
z p d
p gauge  pabsolute  patm  d
 z
patm
absolute
pressure
Local atmospheric
pressure +gauge

Pressure
w
gauge pressure

-gauge
p
Absolute zero
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.
Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted by a fluid
per unit area.
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.
1 bar - 100000 Pa,1 millibar - 100 Pa,
1 atmosphere - 101325 Pa
1 mm Hg - 133 Pa
Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures
Actual pressure at a give 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.
Vacuum, space in which there is no matter or in which the pressure is so low
that any particles in the space do not affect any processes being carried on there.
Pgage=Pabs – Patm.

Pvac=Patm - Pabs.
Vacuum, space in which there is no matter or in which the pressure is so low
that any particles in the space do not affect any processes being carried on there.
• The pressure is not influenced from the size or
shape of the container!
Variation ofaPressure
Pressure in with
fluid at rest is Depth of the
independent
shape of the container.
Pressure is the same at all points on a horizontal
plane in a given fluid.
Variation of Pressure with Depth

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
IDEAL GAS LAW
Gases are highly compressible in comparison to liquids, with changes
in gas density directly related to changes in pressure and temperature
through the equation:

ideal or perfect gas law, or the equation of state

where p is the absolute pressure,  the density, T the absolute

temperature,and R is a gas constant. termed the ideal or perfect
gas law, or the equation of state for an ideal gas. It is known to
closely approximate the behavior of real gases under normal
conditions when the gases are not approaching liquefaction.
The gas constant, R, depends on the particular gas and is related to
the molecular weight of the gas. The value of R at atm that is at
standard atmospheric pressure is R = 8.3144598 J.mol-1.K-1.
BOYLE’S LAW

In the mid 1600's, Robert Boyle studied the relationship between the pressure p and the
volume V of a confined gas held at a constant temperature. Boyle observed that the
product of the pressure and volume are observed to be nearly constant. The product of
pressure and volume is exactly a constant for an ideal gas.

p * V = constant
 Scuba Diving and Hydrostatic Pressure

Pressure on diver at
1
30.5 m?
 kg  m
Pgage,2  gz   998  9.81 30.5m  298.5kPa
 
 m3  s2 
 1atm 
 298.5kPa    2.95atm
 101.325kPa 
30.5 m
Pabs ,2  Pgage,2  Patm  2.95atm  1atm  3.95atm

Danger of emergency
2 ascent?
1 1  PV
PV 2 2 Boyle’s law
V1 P2 3.95atm
If you hold your breath on ascent, your lung   4
V2 P1 1atm
volume would increase by a factor of 4, which
would result in embolism and/or death.
The transmission of pressure throughout a stationary fluid is the principle upon which
Pascal’s Law
many hydraulic devices are based.
The required equality of pressures at equal elevations throughout a system is important
for the operation of hydraulic jacks, lifts, and presses, as well as hydraulic controls on
aircraft and other types of heavy machinery.
Pressure applied to a confined fluid
increases the pressure throughout by the
same amount.
In picture, pistons are at same height:
F1 F2 F A
P1  P2    2 2
A1 A2 F1 A1
Ratio A2/A1 is called ideal mechanical
advantage
The piston area can be made much larger
than and therefore a large mechanical
advantage can be developed; that is, a
small force applied at the smaller piston
can be used to develop a large force at the
larger piston.

A piston located at one end of a closed system filled with a liquid, such as oil, can be used to change the pressure
throughout the system, and thus transmit an applied force to a second piston
 Example

Because of a leak in a buried gasoline storage

tank, water has seeped in to the depth shown in
the figure. The specific gravity of the gasoline is
SG=0.68. Determine the pressure at the
gasoline–water interface and at the bottom of the
tank.

SOLUTION:
gasoline=0.68* water=0.68*1000=680 kg/m3

Patm at the free surface of gasoline.

At (1) interface Patm+5.2*680=Pabs-int Gage Pressure Pint=3536 Pa

At (2) bottom Pabs-int+0.9*1000=Pabs-bottom Gage Pressure Pbottom=4436 Pa
 Measurement of Pressure
• There are numerous devices and techniques to
measure the pressure.
• Absolute pressure >0
• Gauge pressure can be either <0 or >0
• Negative pressure is referred as suction or
vacuum pressure.
• 69 kPa(abs)=
• -32.3 kPa(gauge)
• 32.3 kPa suction or 32.3 kPa vacuum
• Pressure unit → N/m2 (Pascal)
• As decribed previously it can be also
expressed in the height (m, mm, etc.) of a liquid
column. In addition, the type of the liquid
should be indicated (H2O, Hg, etc.)
• Example → Standard atmospheric pressure is
760 mm Hg (abs).
• The atmospheric pressure is measured with a mercury
barometer (Evangelista Torricelli, 1644):

patm  pv   m h
pv  0
patm   m h
The contribution of the vapor
pressure can be neglected!
Pv(mercury)=0.00016 kPa(abs)
at 20 °C
• If Patm=101.3 kPa and
γmercury=133kN/m3 what is the
height of the mercury column?
• What happens when water is used
instead of mercury?
• Can you compute hwater?
 Manometers
• Pressure of systems can be measured using
liquid columns in vertical or inclined tubes
which are called as manometers.
• There are three common types of manometers:
1) The piezometer tube
2) The U-tube manometer
3) The inclined-tube manometer
 1) The piezometer tube
• Vertical tube, open at top, attached to a pipe or
a container.
patm

𝑃𝐴 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 + γℎ → 𝑃𝐴 = γℎ
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
 Disadvantages of the piezometer
1) The pressure in the container has to
be greater than atmospheric pressure.
2) Pressure must be relatively small to
maintain a small column of fluid.
3) The measurement of pressure must be
of a liquid.
2) The U-tube Manometer
• To find the pressure, start
at one end of the system
and follow the way around
to the other end.
• PA=P1 and P2=P3

• 𝑃𝐴 + γ1 ℎ1 − γ2 ℎ2 = 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚
EXAMPLE:Pressure gage B is to measure the pressure at Point A in a water flow.
If the pressure at B is 87 kPa, estimate the pressure at A in kPa. Assume all fluids
are at 20 oC

𝑃𝐴 + γ𝑤 0.05 − γ𝑚 (0.11 − 0.04) − γ𝑜 0.06 = 𝑃𝐵 =87000 Pa

𝑃𝐴 = 96351 𝑃𝑎 = 96.4𝑘𝑃𝑎
Differential U-tube Manometer

𝑃𝐴 + γ1 ℎ1 − γ2 ℎ2 − γ3 ℎ3 = 𝑃𝐵
𝑃𝐵 + γ3 ℎ3 + γ2 ℎ2 − γ1 ℎ1 = 𝑃𝐴

• Common gage fluids are Hg and H2O,

some oils, and must be immiscible.
• Temp. must be considered in very
accurate measurements, as the gage
fluid properties can change.
• Capillarity can play a role, but in many
cases each meniscus will cancel.
Question:
Example 2.4
A closed tank contains compressed air and oil
(SGoil=0.90) as shown. A U-tube manometer using
Pressure gage mercury (SGHg=13.6) is connected to
the tank as shown. The column heights are h1=91.4
cm, h2=15.2 cm, and h3=22.9 cm. Determine the gauge
pressure of air.

Answer: 𝑤 =1000 kg/m3


𝑆𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑙 =  𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑜𝑖𝑙 =0.9𝑤 =900kg/m3
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑆𝐺𝑚𝑒𝑟 =  𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑟 =13.6𝑤 =13600kg/m3
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

P1=P2
𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 + ℎ3 ∗ 𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑟 = 𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟 + (ℎ2 +ℎ1) ∗ 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑙
ℎ3 ∗ 𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑟 −(ℎ2 + ℎ1) ∗ 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑙 = 𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟 − 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 =(𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟 ) 𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒
 3) Inclined Manometer
• is used to measure small pressure changes

𝑙2 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ

𝑃𝐴 + γ1 ℎ1 − γ2 𝑙2 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ − γ3 ℎ3 = 𝑃𝐵
Note: Use vertical distance
Mutlifluid Manometer
P1  Patm  h11g  h2  2 g  h3 g
(P1)gage=1h1+ 2h2+ 3h3

1 For multi-fluid systems

1h1 Pressure change across a fluid
column of height h is P = gh.
2
1h1+2h2 Pressure increases downward, and
decreases upward.
3
1h1+ 2h2+ 3h3 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.

P2  h3 3 g  h2  2 g  h11g =Pair
EXAMPLE: Find and plot the pressure as a function of the depth within the tank shown in the figure below.

P1   1  h 1  0.6 w  1.2  0.72  w  0.72  9810  7063 .2( N / m 2 )

P2  P1   2  h 2  0.72  w  0.8 w  1.2  1.68  w  1.68  9810  16480 .8( N / m 2 )
P3  P2   3  h 3  1.68  w  1.0  w  1.3  2.98  w  2.98  9810  29233 .8( N / m 2 )
P4  P3   4  h 4  2.98  w  1.4 w  1.1  4.52  w  4.52  9810  44341 .2( N / m 2 )
P5  P4   5  h 5  4.52  w  2.0 w  1.0  6.52  w  6.52  9810  63961 .2( N / m 2 )
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,
PA  PB 2>>1 and P1-P2= gh
P1  (a  h) 1g  P2  a1g  h 2 g
P1  P2  hg (  2  1 )