ADDU HIGH SCHOOL Upthrust

Hithadhoo, Addu , Rep. of Maldives

When an object is fairly or totally immersed in fluid, pressure difference at
different depths cause it to experience an upward force known as upthrust.
Fluids
Thus an object flooded in a fluid is below the action of two factors, in law of
Fluid is a substance, as a liquid or gas, that is capable of flowing and that flotation such as,
changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change
its shape. W - weight for downward action of a body and

Upward force caused by the fluid pressure- the

Density
The density () of a substance of uniform composition is its mass per unit
volume: = m/ V. In the SI system, density is measured in units of kilograms
per cubic meter.
Pressure in fluids
Consider a column of fluids of height h, density , and area of cross section A
Upthrust
The floating and the sinking of a body in a fluid depend
on the relative magnitudes of weight and upthrust.
Possible Cases - Law of Floatation:
Case 1: W > U which defines the weight of the body is greater than the
resulting upthrust:

In this case net weight of particles = W-U which acts in downward.

Hence the body exhibits the downward acceleration and it sinks to bottom. Iron
piece which immerse in water will considered as example.

(Upthrust is less than weight

then the body sinks through
Pressure at the base =
=
=
= fluid)

The volume of the column is =Ah

Ahg (An object will remain at rest

Therefore Pressure P =
= hg
when balanced forces act on
P= h it)

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Case 2: W = U which defines the weight of the body which is equal to the Derivation of Upthrust
upthrust
The upthrust is the difference between the force due to water pressure at the top
U
The net weight in this case = W U will and bottom of the cylinder
produce the value zero. Hence the body will
float below the surface of liquid.

Case 3: WB which defines that the body

weight is less than the upthrust.

The law of floatation is used in following

areas, U

Ship.
Submarine.
Life belt.
Ice-berg. Pressure = Force/Area
Floating of man on water.
Balloon rising. Or Force = Pressure Area

Force at the top F1 = P1A = h1gA

Archimedes Principle
Force at the bottom F2 = P2A = h2gA
States that when a body is completely or partially immersed in a fluid, the
fluid exerts a resultant upthrust on the body equal to the weight of the fluid Upthrust U = F2- F1 = (h2gA) - (h1gA)
that is displaced by the body = (h2- h1) gA = (h2- h1) A g

Where, A(h2- h1) = Volume of the fluid displaced

U = V g
and V = mass of the fluid displaced
Hence U= mg

Upthrust = Weight of the fluid displaced

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Fluid flaw Turbulent flow

Fluid dynamics is the study of how fluids behave when they're in motion.
Fluids can flow steadily, or be turbulent. In steady flow, the fluid passing a
given point maintains a steady velocity. For turbulent flow, the speed and or
the direction of the flow vary. In a fluid flow, the motion can be represented
with streamlines showing the direction the fluid flows in different areas. The
density of the streamlines increases as the velocity increases.

Fluids can be compressible or incompressible. This is the big difference

between liquids and gases, because liquids are generally incompressible, The flow is subject to sudden changes in speed and direction-eddies are
meaning that they don't change volume much in response to a pressure change; frequently seen.
gases are compressible, and will change volume in response to a change in There is a lot of large scale mixing of layers, so you should include
pressure. lots of eddies

Laminar and turbulent flow Note- There may be situations where one type of flow changes to another,
such as when a laminar air flow passes around an obstacle and becomes
Fluids moving through the pipes or around obstacles can flow in different ways turbulent.

Laminar flow or streamline flow

Usually occurs at lower speeds and around more streamlined objects.

Laminar flow means flow in layers. The layers do not mix, so your
Viscous Drag
drawings should not show streamlines crossing over.
The layers are roughly parallel When solids and fluids move relative to each other, the layer of fluid next to
the solid exerts a frictional force on it. Successive layers of fluid experience
The speed and direction at any point remain constant over time.
frictional forces between each other as well. The frictional force cause viscous
There are no sudden changes in the speed or direction along the drag, which is one of the cause of the air resistance.
streamlines either, so does not draw sharply angled changes in the
direction when the lines flow around objects.

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Viscous drag is greater the fluid flow is turbulent, so designers of the car, for
example, ensure that the flow remains as laminar as possible
Note- Viscous drag must be labeled opposite to the motion of moving object
Viscosity
Fluid can be viscous (pours slowly) or non-viscous (pours easily). The amount
of viscous drag depends on the type of fluid as well as the shape of the object
and the type of fluid flow. Viscous drag would be greater in viscous fluids
(honey, syrup) and less in less viscous fluid (water, petrol..)
The coefficient of viscosity usually just called viscosity and is used to
compare different fluids
Viscosity is the property of a fluid by virtue of which the fluid opposes the
relative motion between successive layers due to the friction between the
layers.
This equation is referred to as Stokes law
-Coefficient of viscosity
r radius of the sphere
vvelocity of the moving sphere
Terminal velocity
Consider a sphere falling from rest through a viscous fluid the force acting on
the sphere are its weight W, upthrust U and the viscous drag F Initially the
downward force W is greater than the upward force U+F and the sphere
accelerates downward .As the velocity of the sphere increases the viscous drag
increases according to the strokes law(F= 6) until U+F = W. the sphere
continuous to move downwards with a constant velocity because there is no net
force acting on it its velocity has a constant maximum value known as terminal
velocity

Examples: Less viscous fluids--- water, petrol kerosene etc.

More viscous fluids Syrups, honey etc

Viscosity and temperature

The viscosity of most of the liquids decreases with temperature. Ex: hot oil
flows more easily than cold oil.
Terminal velocity in terms of stokes law
Note: When the velocity of flow of a liquid is greater than the critical value, the
Consider a small steel ball moving through a fluid
flow of the liquid becomes disorderly and zig-zag called turbulent flow.
At terminal velocity upthrust + viscous drag =weight
Stokes Law
3
When a sphere moves slowly through a fluid [ex: pendulum bob swinging in Therefore r fluid g + 6 = r3(moving object) g

air, falling of a raindrop and slow descent of sand particle in water] the viscous
drag force F on the sphere is given by ( )
v=

F= 6

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