UNIT 1 FLUID STATICS

- --

Structure
1.1 Introduction
0 bjectives

Properties o f ' Fluids

1.2.1 Density
1.2.2 Pressure
1.2.3 Viscosity
1.2.4 Kinematic Viscosity
1.2.5 Bulk Modulus of Elasticity
1.2.6 Vapour Pressure
1.2.7 Surface Tension and Capillarity
1.3 Pressure at a point
1.3.1 Variation of Pressure within a Static Fluid
1.3.2 Absolute and Gauge Pressures
1.4 Force on Plane Areas Immersed in a Fluid
1.5 Force on Curved Surfaces
1.6 Measurement of Pressure
1.6.1 Manometers
1.7 Summary
1.8 Answers to SAQs

1.1 INTRODUCTION
This is your first exposure to engineering fluid mechanics. In your earlier physics
courses, you might perhaps have studied a few bits of what we are going to cover
here but the emphasis, rigour and approach of coverage will be quite different in this
course than in the physics courses. We shall, in fhis course, go through the theory of
fluid mechanics only to the extent required to solve practical engineering problems.
You will thus find the course quite interesting, especially because you will be yourself
solving numerical problems that come straight from the fascinating field of
engineering.
This unit being the first one of the course, it is very important that you learn the
material contained in this unit thoroughly. It should form a solid foundation for
uiiderstandiiig all subsequelit units of the fluid mechanics course. The unit begins with
some basic properties of fluids. As you must be already familiar with some of the
prelimiiiary properties of fluids we shall not devote much time and space for these.
Rather, we will quickly recapitulate the definitions and proceed to the more important
('more important' because you would be studying them for the first time) properties
like viscosity and compressibility. Where necessary we shall solve numerical problems
so that the definitions will remain firmly fixed in your mind. In the subsequent
sections we will discuss the interesting problems of determining the force due to fluid
pressure on bodies immersed in fluids. In those sections, we will be dealing with only
stationary fluids, and hence if you have gone through a course on statics, you should
find it very easy to follow. We shall then go on to study some simple pressure
measuring devices, called the manometers. A brief summary of what we have studied
in this unit will be given at the end of the unit.
For best results, you are advised to start the unit right from the beginning even if you
seem to know most of the material contained in the initial sections. This way you will
get tuned to the style of coverage and then understandiiig the subsequent sections
becomes easier. You will realise that the material contained in this unit is not only
easy to understand but is also very interesting. So, start now, and keep going.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to
* define various fluid properties
and + determine the pressure at a point in a static fluid,
+ determine force due to fluid pressure on areas immersed in a static fluid, and
+ carry out manometry computations for determining pressures and pressure
differences
1.2 PROPERTIES OF FLUIDS
If you are asked to spell out in one sentence what is the essential difference between
the fluids and the solids, perhaps you would say Fluids flow while solids don't. Yes
indeed ! That is infact the major difference between the fluids and the solids. Fluids
flow under the action of shear (tangential) forces. That is, they do not resist the shear
stresses as solids do. To understand this better, imagine a small layer of a liquid on a
horizontal flat plate. As long as the plate is horizontal, there is no tangential ,force
acting on the liquid and therefore it remains stationary. If you slightly tilt the plate to
an inclined position, the liquid starts flowing. The tangential force responsible for the
flow in this case is the component of its own weight. If the same experiment is camed
out with a solid block instead of the liquid, you may observe that after sufficiently
increasing the inclination of the plate the solid block moves as a whole. However, it
does not flow - that is, there is no deformity of the block itself.
This infact leads s s to the definition of a fluid : That which deforms continuously
under the action of a shear stress is a fluid. Both liquids and gases therefore come
under the category of a fluid.
You would perhaps be well conversant with atleast some of the fluid properties such
as specific gravity, specific volume etc. We will therefore quickly run through the
definitions of these and discuss at some length the viscosity, surface tension and
compressibility which are perhaps new to you.
1.2.1 Density
The density p (pronounced 'rho') of a fluid is defined as its mass per unit volume.

that is, p -;
m

where m is the mass of the fluid when it occupies the volume v. The S I unit of density
is kg/m3. Water has a density of 1000 kglm3 at 4OC. The specific volume v, is simply
the reciprocal of the density. That is, the specific volume of a fluid is defined as the
volume occupied by a unit mass of the fluid.

The specific weight y (pronounced as 'gamma'), also called the unit gravity force is
the force due to gravity on (that is, the weight of) a unit volume of fluid.

Since it depends on the acceleration due to gravity, the specific weight chan es from
8
place to place. The specific weight of water at 5OC at sea level is 9806 Nlm . The
relative density S, (also called the specific gravity), of a fluid is defined as the ratio
of its density to that of water. Water, thus has a specific gravity of 1. If the specific
gravity of a fluid is known, say, Sf, its specific weight yfcan be readily calculated as,
yf= Sf y,,, where y, is the specific weight of water. For example, mercury, with a
specific gravity of 13.6 has a specific weight of

1.2.2 Pressure
A fluid exerts a force normal to a solid boundary or any plane drawn through the
fluid. Since many problems may involve bodies of fluid of indefinite extent and, in
many cases, the magnitude of the force exerted on a small area of the boundary or
plane may vary from place to place, it is convenient to work in terms of the pressurep
of the fluid, defined as the force exerted per unit area. If the force exerted on each
unit area of a boundary is the same, the pressure is said to be uniform.
:That is,

Pessure - AreaForceof exerted

boundary
F
or p P -
A
If, as is more-s~mmonlythe case, the pressure changes from point to point, we
t force 6F normal to a small area
consider t h ~ e l e m e n of surrounding the point
under consideration. Then we wrlte,

In the limit, as 6.4 -0

pressure at a point,

In S I units, the unit for pressure is ~ / m ' , and is named Pascal (denoted as Pa).
1.2.3 Viscosity
Suppose you pour two fluids, water and engine oil on an inclined surface. What do
you observe? Water flows faster (or, more easily) than the oil. There seems to be
some reluctance for the oil to flow; in other words, the oil offers more resistance to
flow than water. The property by virtue of which a fluid offers resistance to flow is
called the viscosity. It is the most important property of fluids. Molasses and tar are
examples of highly viscous fluids whereas water and air have very small viscosities.
We shall now get an expression for the viscosity. Suppose you have a layer of fluid of
thickness d on a solid horizontal surface of cross section area A (see figure 1.1).
Since there is no tangential force, the fluid is not flowing.
F

-
V Q 0
U Free surface
-
i I 5
d I I /
I I /
v I - ----Cr
x
Figure 1.1

Now let us apply a tangential (or shear) force F. Because fluids deform continuously
under the action of shear forces, the fluid starts flowing. Experiments show that the
fluid immediately in contact with the solid boundary has the same velocity as the
boundary. That is, a small film of fluid remains sticking to the boundary. We say
there is no slip at the boundary. The velocity keeps increasing towards the surface,
where it will be maximum. In figure 1.1, U is the velocity at the surface. Experiments
also show that the tangential force F required to produce the velocity U is directly
proportional to the cross section area A and the velocity U and is inversely
proportional to the thickness of fluid d.

That is, F A
- U
d (1.1)

Introducing a constant of proportionality and denoting it by 1 (pronounced as

'myu'), we get

F - 1 -A U
d (1.2)

Let us see what the constant of proportionality 1 implies. For the same force F, area
Fluid Statics and of cross section A and thickness of fluid d, a higher p will imply a lower velocity U.
Kinematics
That is, the resistance to flow increases as p increases. The constant p is therefore
used as a measure of resistance to flow and is variously called as dynamic viscosity,
absolute viscosity, coefficient of viscosity or simply viscosity. Rearranging equation
(1.2),

The left band side being tangential force per unit area denotes the shear stress, t. The
term U/d, being the change in velocity per unit depth of the fluid, is more generally
expressed as duldy. Thus, equation. (1.3) is written as

Equation (1.4) is the Newton's law of viscosity. In many theoretical developments,

we make an important assumption that the viscosity is zero. When this is so, there
will be no shear stresses, regardless of the motion of the fluid.
An interesting behaviour of viscosity in gases and liquids (both of which, you must
not forget, are fluids), is that the viscosity of a gas increases with temperature whereas
that of a liquid decreases with temperature. It is however independent of pressure, for
ordinary pressures. For very great pressures, both gases and liquids show an erratic
variation of viscosity with pressure.
To get the units of viscosity, look at equation (1.4). The viscosity cl can be expressed
as

Inserting dimensions F, L, T for force, length and time,

we get the dimensions of p as F L - ~

T, The SI unit of viscosity is the Pascal-second
(denoted as Pa-s).
Example 1 :
A flat plate of area 1.5 m2 i s w l e d with a velocity of 0.4 mfsec, as shown in
figure 1.2, relative to another plate located at a distance of 0.15 mm from it.
Find the force required to maintain this velocity, if the viscosity of the fluid
separating the plates is 0.1 Pa-s.

Oil of viscosity 0.1 P a s

Q
F
u = 0.4 m/sec

------------------------------------
-------------------------
-------------------------------------
I
ILT
L 0.15 nun

Figure 1.2

Solution :
The upper plate is moving whereas the lower one is stationary. A velocity
gradient is therefore set up in the fluid between the two plates with the velocity
being zero immediately adjacent to the lower plate and equal to 0.4 mfsec at the
upper plate.
 From Newton's law of viscosity,

where du is the change in velocity over the distance dy.

This is the shear stress acting over the cross section area of 1.5 m2 of the fluid
in contact with the upper plate.
Force required to maintain the velocity = z x Area

1.2.4 Kinematic Viscosity

The ratio of absolute viscosity p to the density is called the kinematic viscosity, and is
denoted by v (pronounced as 'nyu')

You may verify that the dimensions of v are L?' . In fact, it is called the kinematic
viscosity because the force term F is absent in it.
1.2.5 Bulk Modulus of Elasticity
The bulk modulus of elasticity is a measure of the compressibility of a fluid. It
describes how well a fluid can be compressed. Suppose you have a test-tube fitted
with an air- tight piston. When you push the piston down, you apply a pressure on the
air within; The volume of air decreases as a result. You could achieve this with a
reasonable ease. If, however, you carry out the experiment with water, you will see
that even to achieve a very small decrease in volume, considerable effort ('pressure')
will be involved. That is to say, air can be more easily compressed than water. This is
in general true for the gases and liquids. The gases are compressible whereas for most
purposes the liquids may be treated as incompressible. An important implication of
this is that the density of a gas changes with pressure whereas for most liquids the
density remains unchanged with pressure. You must remember however that this is
true only for gradual and small changes of pressure. If the change in pressure is
sudden or very large then the compressibility of the liquid also becomes significant.
The compressibility of a perfect gas is expressed by the perfect-gas law which you
must have studied in one of your chemistry courses. For the liquids, the
compressibility is expressed by the bulk modulus of elasticity, K. If the pressure of a
volume v of a liquid is increased by dp, its volume will decrease by dv. The bulk
modulus of elasticity is defined as

The negative sign indicates that as the pressure increases the volume decreases. Since
the denominator, dvlv is dimensionless the bulk modulus of elasticity K has the
dimension of pressure. The bulk modulus of elasticity of water at 20°C is 2.2 GPa.
(G stands for 'gega', 102. This means that if we apply a pressure of one atmosphere
(about 0.1 MPa, M = 10 ) to a volume of 1 cubic meter of water, the change in
volume is given by
Fluid Statics m d which is about 45 cm3. The negative sign only indicates that there is a decrease in
Kinematics
volume.

Example 2 :
What is the bulk modulus of elasticit of a liquid which is compressed in a
cylinder from a volume of 0.0125 m2at 80 N/cm2 to a volume of 0.0124 m3 at
150 N/cm2 ?
Solution :
Initial volume , V = 0.0125 m3
Final volume = 0.0124 in3
Decrease in volume, - dv = 0.0001 m3
Increase in pressure, dp = 150 - 80 = 70 N/cm2

Bulk Modulus, K -- dv/V

1.2.6 Vapour Pressure

At a liquid-air interface, a continuous exchange of molecules takes place. The liquids
evaporate because the liquid molecules escape from the surface into a gaseous form,
called the vapour. These vapour molecules exert a partial pressure in the space,known
as the vapour pressure. When the pressure above a liquid equals the vapour
pressure, boiling occurs. It may be interesting for you to know that by reducing the
pressure above a water surface to around 2.5 kPa (this being the vapour pressure of
water), you may bring about boiling of w a t x even at room temperature.
This property of liquids, in fact, may cause an undesirable effect called the cavitation.
In many liquid flow situations, it is possible that very low pressures are produced at
certain locations. For example, in figure 1.3 the pressure at point A may drop to a
very low value and may equal to the vapour pressure of water. When this occurs,

Low Pressure
Cavities

High Pressure

water starts boiling at point A. Thus a rapidly expanding vapour pocket (cavity) is
formed. Because of the flow, this pocket of vapour is usually swept away from the
' point A where it originated to a point B of high pressure. Because of the high pressure
at B, the cavity collapses (or, the bubbles burst). This continuous growth and decay of
the bubbles affect the operating performance of pumps and turbines and may result in
erosion of metal parts in the region of cavitation.
1.2.7' Surface Tension and Capillarity
The attraction between molecules forms an imaginary film capable of resisting tension
at the. interface-of a liquid and a gas or of two immiscible fluids. If you place a small
i-
 Fluid Ststia

F i 1.4
needle on a quiet water surface, you will observe that it is supported there by the film.
It is as if this film is held stretched all over the surface. The stretching force required
to form this film is called the surface tension. The surface tension is expressed as
force per unit length. It is usually denoted by a ('sigma'). The S1 unit of surface
tension, thus, is Nlm.
Surface tension effects are generally negligible in most engineering applications.
However, an important effect of surface tension, called the capillarity, may need due
consideration in many practical problems. If you insert a tube of a small cross section
in water you will see that the water level rises in the tube. What you may perhaps not
know is that if you insert the tube in mercury, the level goes down in the tube. This
phenomenon of rise or fall in the level of a liquid in a tube is called the capillarity. It
is effected by surface tension. figure 1.4 shows the capillary rise in a tube. The
surface tension is acting all over the surface. From equilibrium considerations, the
upward force in the liquid column in the tube must be equal to the downward force at

C
point 0.The downward force is due to gravity, given by z ? h y, whereas the
upward force is due to the vertical component of the surfac tens on given by
(25c r a ) cos 0. 0 is called the wetting angle and it depends on both the liquid and the
material of the tube. For glass and water, 0 is nearly zero and for glass and mercury it
is 130". Thus,

2 a cos 8 4 a cos 0
h = 5

y'r Y d
where d is the diameter of the tube.
Example 3 :
Calculate the capillary effect in mm. in a glass tube of 4 mm diameter when
immersed in a container of (i) water and (ii) mercury. Surface tension of water
and mercury are 0.0735 Nlm and 0.510 Nlm respectively. The wetting angle
(angle of contact) for water is 0" and that for mercury is 130".
Specific gravity of mercury = 13.6 , specific weight of water = 9806 ~ / m ~ .
Solution :
(i) Water :

h - 4 a cos 0
yd
- 4 x 0.0735 x cos 0"
9806 x 4 x 10-
Fluid Statics and (ii) Mercury :
Kioernatlcs

The negative sign indicates that the level in the tube is lower than that in the
container.
SAQ 1
In the Example 1 (figure 1.2 ) with a different fluid placed between the plates
requires a force of 600 Newtons to produce the same velocity (0.4 mls),
determine the viscosity of the fluid.

SAQ 2
Determine the increase in pressure required to reduce the volume of a fluid by 1
percent if its bulk modulus of elasticity is 2.1 x lo9~ l m ' .

SAQ 3
A glass tube of 2 mm diameter when immersed in a water shows a capillary rise
of 13 mm. Find the surface tension.

1.3 PRESSURE AT A POINT

We will now see that the pressure at a point in a static fluid is infact a scalar quantity.
That is, the pressure at any point in a fluid at rest is the same in all directions.
This can be readily proved with reference to figure 1.5. Consider a very small, wedge
shaped element of fluid at rest whose thickness perpendidular to the plane of the paper
is constant and equal to dy. Let p be the average pressure in any direction in the
plane of the paper and p, and p, be the average pressures in the horizontal and vertical
directions.
 Fluid Statics

, Gravity Force
1
W - y x y x drdydr
J I P ~ ~ ~ Y
Figure 1.5

The forces acting on the element of fluid, with the exception of those in the y
direction on the two faces parallel to the plane of the paper are shown in the figure.
For our purpose, forces in the y direction need not be considered. Since the fluid is at
rest, there are no tangential forces. As this is a condition of equilibrium, the sum of
the force components in any direction must be equal to zero. Writing such an
equation for the components in the x direction,
p dl dy cos a -pxdy dz = 0.
Since dz = dl cos a , it follows that p=pX Similarly, summing up forces in the z
1
direction gives p, dr dy - p dl dy sin a - - y ak dy dz = 0. Since the element is very
2
small, the third term is of a higher order compared to the other and therefore may be
neglected. From this, it follows that p = p,, as dr = dl sin a. Can you now show
that p = p, ? As you observed, the results are independent of a. Hence the pressure
at any point in a fluid at rest is the same in all directions. This is known as Pascal's
Law.
13.1 Variation of Pressure Within a Static Fluid
Consider the differential element of a static fluid as shown in figure 1.6. Since the
element is very small, we can assume that the density of the fluid within the element
is constant. Assume the pressure at the center of the element isp and that the
dimensions of the element are €a, 6y and 62. What are the forces acting on the
element in the vertical direction ? They are, the body force, the action of gravity on
the mass within the element, and the surface forces transmitted from the surrounding
Fldd Static8 and fluid and acting at right angles (why?) against the top, bottom and sides of the
Kinematics
element. Since the fluid is at rest, the element is in equilibrium and the summation of
forces acting on the element in any direction must be zero. To satisfy 2 F, = 0 and
2 F,,= 0 the pressure on the opposite vertical faces (ABCD etc.) must be equal.
F, = 0 leads to

from which *-
ax
0

Similarly for the y direction we get

That is, the pressure remains the same on any horizontal plane.
Summing up forces in the vertical direction and setting equal to zero,

This results in ap / az = - y, which, since p is independent of x and y can be written

as

This is the general expression that relates variation of pressure in a static fluid with
vertical position. The minus sign indicates that as z gets larger (increasing elevation),
the pressure gets smaller.
To evaluate pressure variation in a fluid at rest one must integrate equation (1.8),
between appropriately chosen limits. For incompressible fluids ( p = constant),
equation (1.8) can be integrated directly. For compressible fluids, however, p must be
expressed algebraically as a function of r or p.
For the cases of liquids at rest, it is convenient to measure distances vertically
downwards from the free liquid surface. If h is the distance below the free liquid
surface and if the pressure of air and vapour on the surface is arbitrarily taken to be
zero, we can write, from equation (1.8).

For example the pressure at a distance 2m below the free surface of water is
9806 x 2 = 19,612 ~ / m ' .
As there must always be some pressure on the surface of the liquid, the total pressure
at any depth h is given by equation (1.9) plus the pressure on the surface. From
equation (1.9), you must note that all points in a continuous body of fluid (of constant
density) at rest are under the same pressure if they are at the same depth below the
liquid surface.
From equation (1.9), the pressure p may be expressed in the height of a column of the
fluid by the relation,

In SI units, p may be expressed in kilo Newtons per square meter in which case if y
is expressed in kilo Newtons per cubic meter, h will be in meters. When pressure is
expressed in this fashion, it is commonly referred to as pressure head.
1.3.2 Absolute and Gauge Pressures
If pressure is measured relative to absolute zero, it is called absolute pressure; when
measured relative to atmospheric pressure, it is called gauge pressure. If the pressure
 is below that of the atmosphere, it is designated as a vacuum and its gauge value is
the amount by which it is below that of the atmosphere. For example, what is called a
high vacuum is really a low absolute pressure. A perfect vacuum would correspond to
absolute zero pressure. All values of absolute pressure are positive. The atmospheric
pressure is also called the barometric pressure and varies with elevation above sea
level.
1.4 FORCE ON PLANE AREAS IMMERSED IN A FLUID
Suppose a rectangular plane area ABCD is immersed horizontally in a fluid, (such as
water) at a depth h below the free surface. In figure 1.7(a), this situation is shown in
section. You are able to see only the edge AB as all other edges (see figure 1.7(b))
AD, DC and CB are hidden behind AB, because the area is lying horizontally in the
fluid. Now, suppose the pressure at A is p. What will be the pressure at B? It will still
be p because the point B also lies at the same depth (viz., h) below the free surface.
In fact, not only A and B, but all points of the rectangular area ABCD lie at the same
depth h below the free surface and therefore the pressure at any point on the

1 v
5

A
Free Surface

B
D

'1 Figure 1.7(a) Figure 1.7(b)

rectangular area ABCD is p. Because the pressure is uniform, the total force on the
top side of the area will simply be ,F = p x A , where A is the area of the rectangle
ABCD. To get its point of action, we proceed from the first principles. Consider an
elemental strip of width du at a distance x from the edge AD. The force on this
eleinentary area will be dF = phdu, with hdw being the area of the elemental strip.
The moment of this force about the point A (you may choose any convenient point for
taking moments) is, (dF)x. The total moment produced by forces on all such
elementary areas about the point A should be equal to the moment produced by the
total (or, the resultant) force about the same point, A. Assuming that this resultant
force F acts at a distance x, from the point A, we obtain,

The right hand side of equation (1.1 1) is the sum of moments due to forces on
elementary areas. Thus,

xp =
so
b
phxh
p x b x h

With a similar procedure you will see that y, = hl2, where yp is the distance from
point A along A D of the point of action of F. That is, the point of action of the
resultant force F due to fluid pressure on a horizontal surface coincides with the
centroid of the area. This is true of any shape, as long as it is a plane area and is
placed horizontally in the fluid.
Fluid Statics and Suppose now, that the plane ABCD is placed inclined to the horizontal, as shown in
Kinematics figure 1.8(a). Focus your attention only on the plane area ABCD, the trace AB of
which is seen in figure 1.8(a). The plane ABCD is placed normal to the plane of the
paper so that the edges BC and AD are hidden behind the edge AB. The plane itself is
inclined at an angle 0 to the free surface of the fluid as shown. We shall take the
origin of the co-ordinate system to be at the point 0,which is the point of intersection
of the line BA (extended) and the free surface. The y axis is parallel to the trace AB
(You must note that they axis need not coincide with the edge AB). The x-axis is
perpendicular to the y-axis (see figure. 1.8(b)) and runs into the paper in figure 1.8(a),
so that in this particular case the edges AD and BC are parallel to the x-axis.
Remember that we will adhere to this co-ordinate system irrespective of the shape of
the surface being considered. So, in many cases, you may not have any edge (or side)
of the surface parallel to any of the axes.
With the axes thus fixed, we will define the following distances. Let G be the centroid
of the area with co-ordinates (57 ) and let h be the depth of the centroid below the
free surface.

Our interest now is to determine the resultant fluid force on the inclined plane surface
ABCD and its point of action. You must have noticed that there is a major difference
in the pressure distribution on the rectangular area when it is inclined compared to
when the surface is held horizontally. Yes, the difference is that the pressure is no
longer uniform on the surface because every point along the edge AB is at a different
depth below the free surface and therefore the pressure changes continuously as you
move from point to point along AB. However, the pressure is the same along any line
parallel to the edge AD or BC because the depth below the free surface of all points on
such a line will be the same. We will use this fact in determining the total force and
its point of action.
Consider an elemental strip parallel to the x-axis. Let the width of this strip be dy,
assumed to be infinitesimally small. This strip (actually, the centre of the strip) is
located at a distance y from the origin, along the y-axis. The centre of the trace of this
strip is denoted as M in figure. 1.8 (a). The point M (and therefore any point in the
elementary strip PQ) is located at a depth h below the free surface. The pressure at
any point on this strip will be yh, where y is the specific weight of the fluid. Since
the pressure is uniformly distributed on the strip PQ, the force on the strip would be
y h d ~where
, d.4 is the area of the strip.
Thus,

Although for this particular case we will be able to express dA in tenns of dy and the
width of the rectangle (AD or BC), let us not do it (for the purpose of obtaining a
general expression). The force dF will be normal to the line AB (Recall that pressure
forces are always normal to'the surface). The system formed by all such forces on
elemental strips will thus constitute a system of parallel forces, and the resultant force
would be simply the addition of all individual forces. That is,
 From figure. 1.8(a), you will readily see that h = y sin 6 Fluid Statics

F = $ yy sine a
A

From the definition of centroid, you know that (Consult your solid geometry text book)
AT=$ y dA
A

Equation (1 .l2) may thus be written as

F = y sin0 ( A y )

where h = y s i n 0 is the depth of the centroid G below the free surface. y h is the
pressure intensity at the centroid G. Denoting this by p,, we can rewrite equation.
1.12(a) as,

I
That is, the magnitude of the resultant force due to fluid pressure on a plane surface is
given simply by the product of the pressure at the centroid and the area of the
surface. Now, that is interesting, is n't it? Also this result is valid irrespective of the
inclination, and the shape of the surface. We never used the fact that the surface is
rectangular, did we? Equation (1.13) implies that we may rotate the surface about its
centroid without changing the total fluid force on it. Look at figure 1.9
Three positions of a plane surface are shown with the centroid fixed at C. That is, we
have rotated the plane surface about its centroid. For each of the position, the
magnitude of the resultant force is the same, because the depth of the centroid G
below the free surface has not changed. A cautionary remark is necessary here.

Equation (1.13) only says that the magnitude of the resultant force is given by the
product of the pressure intensity at the centroid and the area. It should not be mistaken
that the resultant force itself acts at the centroid. No. The point of action of the
resultant force F is, in general, quite different from the centroid. Tha must be clearly
understood and remembered.
Having determined the magnitude of the resultant force due to fluid pressure, the next
obvious question we need to answer is : where does this resultant force act ? The
Fluid Statics and point of application of this resultant fluid force is called the centre of pressure. We
Kinematics shall now derive general expressions for the x and y co- ordinates of the centre of
pressure.
In figure l.lO(a), a body of arbitrary shape is shown immersed in a fluid. The trace
AB of the body is seen in the figure. We are interested in getting the co-ordinates x p ,
yp of the centre of pressure cp. To do this, we shall consider an elementary area dA on
the surface, as shown in figure l.lO(b).

Let the fluid force on this elementary area be dF, and the total (resultant) fluid force
on the surface be F. By definition, the moment produced by F about any point or axis
must be equal to the sum of moments produced by individual forces (forces on
individual elementary areas, such as dA). If p is the pressure at the centre of the
v Free Surface

Figure 1.10 (a)

Free Surface
/ Figure 1.10 (b)

Figure 1.10 (c) Figure 1.10 (d)

elementary area d4, then, taking moments about the x axis, we get

The area element dA is located at a depth h below the free surface.

Also, we know that

 Substituting these in equation (1.14), we get.
yp $A y y sine (U = $ y f s i n e (U

Can you identify the integral $A y2d,4 ?. Pmm your solid geometry; you may know that
this is the moment of inertia about the x- axis, denoted as I,.
That is,

.I Also, recall that

t
b :. Equation (1.15) may be written as

1 It is usually more convenient to express yp in terms of the moment of inertia about an

axis passing through the centcoid and parallel to the x-axis. This may be done by
using the parallel axes theorem of the moments of inertia which may be expressed as,

in which I, is the moment of inertia about an axis passing through the centroid of the
area and parallel to the x-axis.

YP - I,, +

YC
yf A
A
=Ye+-
Ix c
Yc A

Now, look at that expression. ,I, being a moment of inertia is always positive. And y,
and A are also positive. Therefore yp is always greater than ( or atleast equal to) yc.
The equation therefore implies that the centre of pressure is always below the
centroid. You can very well think of the reason for this. If the pressure distribution is
uniform, the centre of pressure coincides with the centroid. Now, because the fluid
pressures increase linearly with the depth, the resultant force will be shifted
downwards.
To get the x co-ordinate, x,, of the centre of pressure, we shall take moments about the
y-axis.
Fluid Statics sad
Kinematics

y s i n e J x y d*
"P * y sin yc A

You may recall that the integral$ x y dA is called the product of inertia and is denoted
A
by I,. Therefore,

Again, it is convenient to express x, in terms of the product of inertia about the

centroidal axes. (That is, axes parallel to x-axis and y-axis and passing through the
centroid). From the parallel axes theorem for the product of inertia, we have,
Ixy = Xc Yc A + Ixyc

where, I, is the product of inertia about the centroidal axes. Substituting

In most of the- applications, the area is symmetrical about atleast one of the centroidal
axes, in which case I,, is zero. the x-coordinate of the centre of pressure would then
be the same as that of the centroid.
We shall now see how to apply the expressions derived above for solving the
problems.
Consider the following example :PQR is a triangular plate (with PR = QR ) immersed
in water, making an angle 60' with the horizontal, as shown in figure l.lO(c). All
required distances are given. We need to find out the magnitude and the poipt of
application of the force due to water pressure on the triangular plate. The base PQ of
the plate is parallel to the water surface.
First, let us understand how the plate is placed; Look at figure l.lO(d). This gives the
dimensions of the triangular~plate.In figure 1.10 (c), the front view of the plate fixed
in water is shown. The edge P Q is parallel to the water surface (not to the line MN,
ofcourse) and extends into the paper. The point Q is therefore hidden behind the point
A. The points G ', Cpl, and R ' of figure (1.10 (c)) are the traces of points G, C, and R
respectively. G is the centroid and Cp is the centre of pressure figure (1.10 (c)).
We will now get the magnitude of the force on the plate. We know that the magnitude
of the pressure force on a plane surface is given simply by the product of the pressure
intensity at the centroid and the area of the plane surface. To get the pressure intensity
at the centroid, all we need to know is the depth of the centroid below the free
surface. That is, in figure. (l.lO(c)), we must get h, which is quite simple.
-
h - 2.5 + P G ' sin 60"
PQ', being the distance of the centroid from the base PQ, is as you know, for this
triangle, 1 m. ( = RS/3 = 3/3)
.
-
h = 2.5 + 1 x sin 60"
The resultant force due to water pressure on the triangular plate is given by Fluid Statics

F - ' y (Area of triangle)

- 99021 Newtons - 99.021 kN

We have taken the specific weight y of water to be 9806 ~ l m ~ .
To determine the coordinates of the point of action C1, we must choose our coordinate
system consistent with those we used to derive equations (1.16) & (1.17). In figure
(10(a)), these coordinate axes are shown. Verify that they are infact consistent with
what we have used earlier. We will now use the equations (1.16) & (1.17)
straightaway. For simplicity we denote I, by IG and y, by
For the Y coordinate of P, denoted yp we have

IG is the moment of inertia of the triangle about the centroidal axis parallel to the x
axis. That is, (see figure. l.lO(d) about the axis GI-G2. In this case, therefore,

(where b is the base width and h is the height of the triangle. )

y is the y coordinate of the centroid, which, from figure. l.lO(c), is the distance OG'.

and
2
A = area of the triai~gle= (112) x 2 x 3 ='3 m

= 4.015 m

and
-
hp = yp sin 60" 3.477 m.

The x coordinate xp of the centre of pressure Ts given by

-

Because the triangle is symmetric about one of the centroidal axes ( about the axis RS
which is parallel to the y axis), I, = 0, and therefore,
Xp ' "
That is, x, = 1 m.
We therefore got the following answers
Fluid Shaa and Magnitude of the force, F = 99.021 kilonewtons (kN)
Kinematics
Co-ordinates of the centre of pressure,

1.5 FORCE ON CURVED SURFACE

We are now able to find the magnitude, direction and the point of action of the
resultant fluid force on a plane surface. Now, let us recall what we did to obtain the
resultant force on a plane surface. We integrated (that is summed) the forces on
individual elemental areas to obtain the magnitude of the resultant force. We could do
this because the system of forces fi, f2... on individual elemental areas hnstituted a
system of parallel forces (see figure l.ll(a)). When the surface is curved, such as
shown in figure 1.11@), however, the system of forces on elemental areas will not
constitute a system of parallel forces and therefore we will not be able to obtain the
resultant force by a single inteption.
To get the resultant force on the curved surface we shall proceed as follows :
Look at figure 1.12. f,, f , ... are the forces on individual elemental areas and they are
v Free Surfaa V ~ r e surface
e
?

F i p m 1.11 (a) F w 1.11 (b)

normal to the respective elemental areas. Let F be the resultant force on the curved
surface. FHand Fvare respectively the horizontal and vertical components of F. We
shall determine FHand Fv instead of attempting to find F directly. Consider the fluid
enclosed between the curved surface AB and its projection on a vertical plane A' A'
figure. (1.13). In the x'-direction, there are only two forces acting on this volume of
v Free Surface 7
fluid, viz., F ', the force due to fluid pressure on the projection A' B' and Fk)
the force
exerted by the curved surface AB on the fluid. Note that FHfis equal and opposite to
FPH, the horizontal component of the force exerted by the fluid on the surface AB.
Since the fluid within AA' B' B is in equilibrium, the (vector) sum of the forces in any
direction must be zero.

From this we draw the important inference that the horizontal component of the fluid
force on a curved surface is equal to the fluid force on the projection of the surface in
a vertical plane. Also, the line of action of FH1(and hence of FH) must be the same as
that of F. If, for example, the curved surface AB is a cylinder (see figure. (1.14)),
with dia d and length 1, its projection on the vertical plane will be a rectangle of

*,
dimensions d x I. If the fluid surface is just touching the top of the cylinder, then the
horizontal component of the fluid force on the cylinder is given by
2
this being
the force exerted by the fluid on the rectangle held vertically. And, this horizontal
2d
component acts at a distance - from the top edge of the cylinder.
3
We shall now determine the vertical component of the resultant fluid force on a
curved surface adopting the same reasoning. Consider a section of unit width (normal
to the plane of the paper) of the curved surface AB, as shown in figure 1.15. The

v B' A' Free Surface

-
.-. F r e e S ~ r f a e T~
HI - 1" * Hz
dia d 1 = length of
the cylinder
normal to the
A
Paper
B fz
FH- (1R)yd I
B

volume of fluid A B B'A' is enclosed between the fluid surface and the curved surface
AB. Since we are interested in obtaining only the vertical component, let us not worry
about the horizontal forces HI and H,. Since the body of fluid withinA B B'A' is in
equilibrium the sum of forces in any direction must be zero. The only vertical forces
acting on this body of fluid are its own weight, Wand F,' , the reaction of the surface
AB to the vertical component F, of the fluid force F; is, of course, equal and
opposite to F, Remember that we are talking about the fluid force on only one side
of the surface. Because the fluid and the surface AB are in equilibrium

'or

That is, the vertical component (F,) of the fluid force on a curved surface is equal to
the weight of the fluid enclosed between the curved surface and the free surface of the
fluid. Also, because there are only two vertical forces F', and W acting on the body of
fluid A A'B'B, the line of action of F,' (and hence of F, itself) must be the same as
that of W. That is, the line of action of F, passes through the centre of gravity of the
Fluid Statics and fluid enclosed between the free surface of the fluid and the boundary of the curved
Kinematics surface.
For example, consider the semicylindrical body of radius r and of unit length (normal
to the plane of the paper), shown in figure 1.16.(a).

Figwe 1.16 (a) F l w 1.16 (b)

The vertical component of the fluid force on the upper portion of the body is given by
the weight of the fluid enclosed within A C B B'A'. Thus,

The term within the brackets, as you will readily see is the volume of the fluid
enclosed within A C B B'A'. Note that the vertical component of force on the lower
portion of ACB is also equal in magnitude to the weight of the fluid withinA C B B'A'
but it acts in the opposite direction (viz., vertically upwards).
Once we get the horizontal and vertical components of the resultant force, we can
determine the magnitude and the point of action of the force from first principles.
Example 3 :
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant force due to fluid
pressure on the semicircular gate ACB shown in figure 1.16@). The:width of
the gate ( n o n a l to the paper) is 3m.
Solution :
We will determine the horizontal and vertical components of the resultant force
separately.
The horizontal component FH is given by the force on the projection on a
vertical plane of the curved surface. This projection is A'B' and has a width of
3m normal to the paper.
Thus,

where h i s the distance below the free surface of the centroid of the projected
area.

and, A = Area of the projection

= Area of the rectangle of width 3m and depth 0.5 m
= 3 x 0.5 = 1.5 m2.
The vertical component of the force consists of two parts : A downward force, FIVon
the portion AC and an upward force FzV on the portion CB of the gate.
We know that
F,, = Weight of water contained in ADECA, and
F,, = Weight of water contained in ECBADE
The resultant vertical force F, is simply the vector sum of F1, and F2, We may thus
write,
Fv = F2v - FIV
- y [AreaECBADE -AreaADECA]x 3
=y [Area ACBA ] x 3
= Weight of the volume of fluid equal to the volume of the gate.

The resultant of FH and FV may be got as,

and the angle it makes with the horizontal is given by,

Thus, the resultant fluid force on the gate is 14.99 kN and it acts at an angle 10.9" to
the horizontal, normal to the gate (being the force due to fluid pressure).
4
The section of a dam is shown in the figure 1.16 (c). Determine the magnitude
of horizontal and vertical component of water pressure on the upstream face per
meter length of dam.
 1
I
1.6 MEASUREMENT OF PRESSWRE 1
In this section, we shall study some devices used for measuring pressure. For I
measuring purposes, pressure is frequently expressed as the height of a liquid column. I
In such a case we refer to it as the pressure head. For example a pressure head of
760 rnm of mercury corresponds to the pressure exerted at the base of a column of
mercury 760 mm high. Remember that irrespective of the cross-section area of the
column, the pressure still remains the same, being force per unit area.
When the pressure is expressed as force per unit area (e.g. NI~'), it is referred to as
the pressure intensity. A pressure intensity may be expressed as an equivalent pressure
head of any liquid. The pressure intensity, as we have seen earlier, is given by yh;
knowing the pressure head in terms of one liquid, we can express it in terms of any
other liquid with known specific weight, because

where yl is the speciric weight of liquid 1.

y2 = specific weight of the liquid in terms of which we are interested in expressing the
pressure head;
h, and h2 are the pressure heads corresponding to the two liquids.
The atmospheric pressure is normally taken as 760 mm of mercury. To express this
pressure head in terms of any other liquid, say, water for example, we use the above
expression.

That is, a pressure head of 760 mm of mercury is equivalent to a pressure head of

10.336 m of water. We have used the information that the specific gravity of mercury

is 13.6 and the specific weight of water is 9806 ~ / m Frequently

~ . we will be
interested in expressing the pressure head of a liquid as an equivalent height of water
column, as demonstrated. In such a case,

where S1 is the s'pecific gravity of the liquid and hl is the pressure head of the liquid.
In many pressure measuring devices we use this concept of converting pressure heads
into an equivalent height of a convenient liquid (most often, water).

1.6.1 Manometers
Manometers are simple devices used to measure the pressure. The simplest of the
manometers, called a piemmeter, is simply a glass tube fitted to the pressure source as
shown in figure 1.17. The pressure source may be a flow in a pipe. As the glass tube
(the piezometer) is open to the atmosphere, the fluid will rise to a certain height h
inside the tube to balance the pressure at A.
The height h itself will give the pressure head at point A (above which the height is
measured) in tenns of the fluid flowing. Piemmeters are obviously unsuitable for
measuring negative pressures, since air would then be sucked into the pressure source.

Also, if very high positive pressures are to be measured, the glass tube has to be very
large and it becomes impracticable to use piemmeters. In such cases, the U-tube
manometers are used. A simple U-tube manometer is shown in figure 1.18. The liquid
in the pressure source will enter the U-tube and attain a level B when equilibrium is
reached. If the pressure at A is negative, the point B will be below A and if it is +ve
the point B will be above A. To get the pressure at point A, we start at point B where
the pressure is known to be atmospheric. In most of the problems, we will be
interested in finding the gauge pressure (pressures relative to atmospheric pressure),
and therefore we take the atmospheric pressure to be zero. Because the point C is at
the same level as B (figure 1.18 ), the pressure at C is equal to that at B. The point C
itself is at a depth h below the point A, and there is a continuity of the fluid between A
and C. Therefore the pressure at A plus the pressure due to tbe liquid column between
A and C must be equal to the pressure at C.
That is,

Figure 1.19 Figwe 1.20

Knowing the specific weight y of the fluid we will thus be able to determine the
pressure at A. When the pressures are large, however, the tube has to be very large,
which becomes a limitation of such manometers. To overcome this difficulty, a
second fluid, with a relatively high specific weight is rued. The advantage is that the
rise in the level of a fluid of higher density will be much smaller than that of a fluid
of lower density, for the same pressure difference. Figure 1.19 shows such a
manometer. Normally mercury is used as the fluid of the manometer since it has a
relatively high specific gravity (S = 13.6) and it is immiscible with most fluids. An
advantage of such manometers which use another fluid to measure the pressure of a
fluid is that they can be used even when the pressure source is a gas.
In figure 1.19, to determine the pressure p,, at the point A, we proceed as follows.
Point B is an interface of fluid 1 and fluid 2; we know that two points along the same
horizontal line will have equal pressures (of course, as long as there is a continuity in
the fluid between the two points). Thus the pressure at C will be equal to the pressure
at B. We also know that the pressure at point D which is open to the atmosphere is
zero (since we are talking about gauge pressures; that is, pressures relative to the
atmospheric pressure). The obvious procedure to adopt therefore would be to start
with pressure at D, add to it the pressure due to the column D C of fluid 2, to get the
pressure at C. This is also equal to the pressure at B. From the point B, to reach point
A, we need to move up the column of fluid 1and as we move up the column of the
fluid pressure goes on reducing. Thus ,we may write,
Pressure at D + y, h, = Pressure at C
= Pressure at B
Pressure at A = Pressure at B - y, h,.
That is,

In many practical problems, we will be interested in the pressure difference between

two sources and not in the actual pressures. In such a case we use what is called the
differential manometer. The differential manometer is very much similar to the
U-tube manometer shown in figure 1.19, except that at both ends of the manometer a
pressure source is connected. The differential manometer shown in figure 1.20, can be
used to measure the pressure difference between sources A and B. To get the pressure
difference PB-PA,we proceed exactly as we did before. That is we reach point E first
by adding to p,, (the unknown pressure at A), a pressure yl h,; since E and D are
along the same horizontal line with the same fluid (fluid 2) being continuous between
them, the pressure at D is equal to that at E. So, we have reached point D. Our aim is
to reach point B. But because there are two different fluids (fluid 2 and fluid 3)
between points D and B, we cannot reach point B in a single step; First we reach point
C by deducting (since we are moving up a fluid column) from the pressure at D a
value y2 h2, to get p, and from this we deduct (again we are moving up) y d 3 to get
pB , the unknown pressure at B. And this can be written as
PA+ Y I ~ I - Y ~ ~ z - Y=~PB
~ ) .
That is,

Since we can measure h,, ht and h, and we know the specific weights of the three
fluids, yl, y2 and y3 the pressure difference is got straightaway.
You must have now realised that the procedure involved in determining pressures or
the pressure difference between two sources using the manometers is. quite simple and
general. We shall recall the stepwise procedure we adopted in the previous
discussions. In all manometer problems we use the same procedure.
1. Start at one end (or any meniscus if the circuit is continuous) and write the
 pressure there in appropriate units (say, pascals) or in an appropriate symbol if Fluid Static..
it is unknown.
2. Add to this, the change in pressure, in the same unit, from one meniscus to the
next (plus, if the next meniscus is lower, minus if it is higher).
Continue this procedure till the desired point is reached.
n

I
You must also have realised that we may have more than one manometer fluids. The
I procedure still remains the same.
In some applications, we want to measure small pressures (or pressure differences)
accurately. In such cases, we may use the inclined manometer shown in figure 1.21.
As the name indicates the limbs of the manometer are inclined to the horizontal. As a
result, a large reading (a large difference in the levels of manometer fluid) is produced
even for a very small pressure. The accuracy of pressure measurement thus is
increased. To better understand this, look at figures 1.22(a) and 1.22(b). In figure
1.22(a), the pressure source A is connected to a vertical manometer. For a very small
change in the pressure at A, the level difference y in the manometer limb will also be

Figure 1.22 (a) Figure 1.22 (b)

very small and therefore inaccuracies may arise in reading the levels. In figure
1.22(b), instead of a vertical tube an inclined tube is connected to the same pressure
source A. For the same pressure difference that produced a small change in level of y
in a vertical manometer, the corresponding difference in reading (along the inclined
tube) will be y / sin 0. Since sin 8 may be made as small as desirable by making 0
very small we can get a very large reading corresponding to even very slight variation
in pressures.
For example, consider the inclined manometer shown in figure 1.21, for measuring the
pressure difference between source A and B. The inclined manometer itself is in a
plane M (that is, both the limbs of the manometer are in the same plane and there is
no elevation difference between the two limbs). To get the pressure difference p, -
p,, we use the steps listed above. In almost all problems we neglect the pressures due
to air columns, so that, in this case the pressure at C is equal to pressure at B and that
at D is equal to the pressure at A. In moving from point C to D,we must deduct the
mnid statics md pressure due to the 20 mm of alcohol which is inclined at 30°. This pressure is equal
Kinematics to the specific weight of alcohol multiplied by the vertical distance between C' and D,
which is 20 sin 30" mm or 0.02sin 30" m.
We write, therefore,
p, - 0.02 y sin 30" - p,

-
P, - PA 0.020 x (0.8 x 9806) sin 30"

SAQ 5
In figure 1.20 fluid 1 is water (y- 9.806kN/m3), fluid 2 is mercury
( S = 13.6), and fluid 3 is oil (S = 0.8). If hl = 15 cms, hp = 30 cms and h3 = 15
cms. Determine the pressure difference between A and B.

1.7 SUMMARY
This unit introduces you to some basic concepts of fluid mechanics. We have mostly
dealt with fluids at rest, and thus, the unit is named as Fluid Statics. This unit paves
way for understanding the subsequent units. We have discussed the basic fluid
properties with some very rudimentary numerical examples which only make sure that
you understand the definitions right. The variation of pressure in a static fluid and
force on plane and curved surfaces are dealt with in a greater detail. The numerical
examples solved, although very few in number, are aimed at equipping you with
procedures to solve any problem of similar natures. Simple pressure measuring
techniques using manometers are discussed in the last section.
It is emphasised that, to assimilate completely the material contained in this unit, a
large number of numerical problems must be solved. You are therefore urged to solve
numerical examples from the textbooks recommended. It makes the process of
learning enjoyable.

1.8 ANSWERS TO SAQs

SAQ 1
For the configuration shown in figure 1.2

From Newton's Law of Viscosity r - p

du
-
dy
SAQ 2
Reduction of 1 % of volume implies that

Increase in pressure - dp

SAQ 3
for water

u = hyd
4 cos 8

SAQ 4
Horizontal component
FH = y (Projected area x j;)

Vertical component
Fv I y (Volume TNMS )
= 9 . 8 0 6 ~45 x 3

= 1323.81 kN

SAQ 5
Given data
y, - 9.806 w / m 3 hl = 15 x 10- m

y2 = 13.6 x 9.806 w / m 3 & = 30 x 10- m

~3 = 0.8 x 9.806 kN/m3 & = 15 x 10- m
for the configuration shown in figure 1.20.
+ yl hl = Y2h2 + Y3h3 + PB
PA - PB = 13.6 x 9.806 x 30 x + 0.8 x 9.806 x 15 x - 9.806 x 15 x