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Density
The properties of a material affect how it behaves, and how it affects other materials around it. The balloon can fly because the gas inside it has a very low density. The skis spread the weight of the skier over the snow so she does not sink into it. The submersible is designed to explore the seabed - it has a very strong hull to withstand the high pressure from water deep in the oceans. Solids, liquids and gases have different properties and characteristics. One such characteristic is density. Solids are often very dense - that is, they have a high mass for a certain volume. Liquids are often less dense than solids, and gases have very low densities.
The units for density depend on the units used for mass and volume. If mass is measured in kilograms and volume in cubic metres, the units for density are kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3). Density can also be measured in grams per cubic centimetre (g/cm3). If an examination question asks you to write out the equation for calculating density, mass or volume, always give the actual equation in words or using standard symbols The m ass of 50 cm 3 of a liquid and a measuring cylinder is 146 g. The mass of the empty measuring cylinder is 100 g. What is the density of the liquid in kg/m3?
PRESSURE UNDER A SOLID
You can push a drawing pin into a piece of wood quite easily, but you cannot make a hole in the wood with your thumb, no matter how hard you push! The small point of the drawing pin concentrates all your pushing force into a tiny area, so the pin goes into the wood easily. Similarly, it is easier to cut things with a sharp knife than a blunt one, because with a sharp knife all the force is concentrated into a much smaller area. #Definition of pressure: Pressure is the force per unit area. Force is measured in newtons (N) and area is measured in square metres (m2). The units for pressure are pascals (Pa), where 1 Pa is equivalent to 1 N/m2. An elephant has a weight of 40 000 N, and her feet cover a total area of 0.1 m2. A woman weighs 600 N and the total area of her shoes in contact with the ground is 0.0015 m2. Who exerts the greatest pressure on the ground?
Some machines, including cutting tools like scissors, bolt cutters and knives, need to exert a high pressure to work well. In other applications, a low pressure is important. Tractors and other vehicles designed to move over mud have large tyres that spread the vehicle's weight. The pressure under the tyres is relatively low, so the vehicle is less likely to sink into the mud. Caterpillar tracks used on bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment serve a similar purpose. PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS AND GASES The submersible shown in Figure 18.1 has a very strong hull to withstand the high pressure exerted on it by seawater. Pressure in liquids acts equally in all directions, as long as the liquid is not moving. You can easily demonstrate this using a can with holes punched around the bottom, as shown in Figure 18.6. When the can is filled with water, the water is forced out equally in all directions. Gases also exert pressure on things around them. The pressure exerted by the atmosphere on your body is about 100 000 Pa (although the pressure varies slightly from day to day). However, the pressure inside our bodies is similar, so we do not notice the pressure of the air.
The atmosphere exerts a pressure of 100kPa or 100,000 Pa However this is not the exact value.
Magdeburg Hemispheres. When air is inside the spheres, the pressure is same inside and outside. When the air is sucked out, the pressure is only acting from the outside which results in the attachment of the hemispheres. The exact atmospheric pressure exerted by air molecules at sea level is 1.013×10⁵ Pa or 101300 Pa. The pressure within our bodies is also about the same pressure as atmospheric pressure exerted on us. However, miners who enter mines kilometers below the sea level face breathing difficulties. The atmospheric pressure in such mines can be much higher than their own body pressure. This causes difficulty expanding lungs when breathing. On the other hand, climbers at high altitudes encounter lower atmospheric pressure due to the thinner air. The thinner air causes breathing difficulties due to the lower oxygen level. We already saw an example of sucking now let’s see what happens when we draw out the air from a can. when the air is removed from the can, there is nothing to resist the outside pressure and the can crushes due to the outside pressure of the atmosphere.
The pressure formula for liquids and gases are the same.
Pressure (Pa) = h (depth of object) × ρ(density of liquid)× g (10 N/kg)
A liquid is held in its container by its weight. This causes pressure on the container, and pressure on any object in the liquid. The following properties apply to any stationary liquid in an open container. Pressure acts in all directions: The liquid pushes on every surface in contact with it, no matter which way the surface is facing. For example, the deep-sea vessel has to withstand the crushing effect of sea water pushing in on it from all sides, not just downwards. Pressure increases with depth: The deeper into a liquid you go, the greater the weight of liquid above and the higher the pressure. Dams are made thicker at bottom to withstand the higher pressure there. Pressure depends on the density of the liquid: The more dense the liquid, the higher the pressure at any particular depth. Pressure does not depend on the shape of the container: Whatever the shape or width, the pressure at any particular depth is the same. The action of sucking increases the volume of your lungs (Your lungs expand), thereby reducing the pressure in the lungs and in the mouth. The atmospheric pressure acting on the surface of the liquid will be greater than the pressure in the mouth. Thus forcing the liquid to rise up the straw into the mouth.
THE MERCURY BAROMETER:
Instruments that measure the atmospheric pressure are called barometers. The barometer contains the liquid metal Mercury. Atmospheric pressure has pushed mercury up the tube because the space at the top of the tube has no air in it. It is a vacuum. At sea level, atmospheric pressure will support a column of mercury 760mm high, on average. The atmospheric pressure varies slightly depending in the weather. Rain clouds form in large areas of lower pressure, so a fall in the barometer reading may mean that rain is on the way The atmosphere can be considered a deep ocean of air which surrounds the Earth. In some ways it is like a liquid: Its pressure acts in all directions Its pressure becomes less as you rise up through it (because as you rise up the depth decreases) THE MANOMETER: A manometer measures pressure difference. The one in the diagram below is filled with mercury. The height difference shows the extra pressure that the gas supply has in addition to the atmospheric pressure. This extra pressure is called the excess pressure. To find the actual pressure of the gas supply, you should add the atmospheric pressure to this excess pressure. Question 1:
Question 2: The wind pressure on a wall is 100 Pa. If the wall has an area of 6 m², what is the force on it? Question 3: A concrete block has mass 2600 kg. If the block measures 0.5m by 1.0 m by 2.0 m, what is the maximum pressure that can be exerted when resting on ground?
