Pressure in Liquids

Problem/challenge/misconception: Students have a common misconception that liquid pressure depends on surface area.

Topic: Understanding Atmospheric Pressure.

Approach: Inquiry-discovery.

Method: Investigation - Experiment.

Strategy: Students observe water spurting out from a container through holes at different depths.

Students make an inference, propose a hypothesis and plan an experiment to verify the
hypothesis.

Experiment: Refer to Appendix 1.

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 Pressure in Liquids

Date:
SUBJECT: PHYSICS
YEAR: FORM 4
LEARNING AREA: 3. FORCES AND PRESSURE
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: 3.2 UNDERSTANDING PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
LEARNING OUTCOMES: A student is able to:
1. Relate depth to pressure in a liquid.

2. Explain pressure in a liquid and state that

P = hg

3. Describe applications of pressure in liquids.

4. Solve problems involving pressure in liquids.

Time: 2 periods (80 minutes)

Subject Content: Liquid pressure and depth of liquid.
Suggested Activities: 1. Students are asked to discuss a situation whereby:
i. 5 water hoses of different lengths are filled with water.
ii. These hoses will be hung from different heights.

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 Pressure in Liquids

2. Oral and written questions are given in a logical sequence to assist students in making
inference and hypothesis.
3. Students conduct an experiment to investigate the relationship between the depth of the liquid
and liquid pressure.
4. Students discuss the result in groups.
5. One group will present their findings and conclusion.
6. Teacher will then guide students on using the reinforcement module.

Moral Values: Being honest and cooperative

Creative and Critical Thinking Skills: Making inferences and hypotheses
Teaching Aid: Water hoses, metre rules, rubber stoppers, laptop PC and LCD projector, MOE Physics
Teaching Courseware .

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 Pressure in Liquids

RESOURCES /
STAGES CONTENT SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
REMARKS

Set Induction 1. Students are shown five water hoses of different

lengths.
(10 minutes)
(Refer to Appendix 1 for the diagram.)
2. Students are asked questions relating to water spurting
out of the hoses.
3. Students have to state their
i. observations
ii. inferences
iii. hypotheses

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 Pressure in Liquids

STAGES CONTENT SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES RESOURCES /

REMARKS

Development

STEP 1
1. Students are given 5 water hoses of different lengths,
(30 minutes) Laptop PC and LCD
metre rules and 5 rubber stoppers.
projector
2. Students are asked to

i. Arrange the apparatus as shown in the diagram in

Appendix 1.
(Suggested lengths of the water hoses : 5.0 m,
4.0m, 3.0 m, 2.0 m and 1.0 m respectively).

ii. Cover one end of each hose and then fill it with
water to the brim.

iii. Remove the rubber stopper for Hose A and measure

the horizontal distance, xA, travelled by the water
spurt.

iv. Repeat step 2(iii) for hoses B, C, D and E

respectively and measure the horizontal distances

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 Pressure in Liquids

xB, xC, xD and xE.

v. Tabulate the results for the depth of water, h and the

horizontal distance, x.

vi. Plot a graph of horizontal distance, x against depth

of water, h.

STEP 2 Analysis 1. Students are questioned on their observation. Laptop PC and LCD
(20 minutes) Q1: What does the distance, x, represent? projector

(Water pressure)

Q2. Are there other ways of measuring water pressure

without using any standard pressure-measuring
device?

Q3: From the graph of x against depth of water, h,

(a) state the relationship between x and h,

(x is directly proportional to h)

(b) determine the value of x if h is 8.0 m.

2. Teacher explains the concept of pressure in liquids.

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 Pressure in Liquids

STAGES CONTENT SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES RESOURCES /

REMARKS

1. Teacher gives some examples of problem-solving

STEP 3 Problem Solving Laptop PC and LCD
involving pressure in liquids.
(15 minutes) projector
2. Teacher gives a few questions for students to answer
verbally.
3. Teacher and students discuss the answers.

Closure 1. Teacher summarises the lesson. Laptop PC and LCD

(5 minutes) 2. Students are asked to finish the report at home as well as projector
answering the reinforcement questions in the module.
(Refer to reinforcement module.)

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 Pressure in Liquids

Appendix 1
Three-storey School Block

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 Pressure in Liquids

Hose A

Hose B

Hose C

Hose D

Hose E

Summative Test
Water spurting

Diagram 1: Pressure in Liquids : 9

Five long water hoses in action from
different heights at a school block
 Pressure in Liquids

1. Compare the liquid pressure at the points P, Q and R in the diagrams below.

P Q R S

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