Pressure & Buoyancy

Foundation Physics
Eye dropper filled with liquids

Maximum height which

can be achieved by
sucking
ki water iin to a
tube 10.3 m.
How do we get this
value?
 Barometer
vacuum

p0

760 mmHg
760mm Evangelista Torricelli
= 760 torr 1608 - 1647
= 1013 hPa

Hg

The atmospheric pressure is till today often reported in torr

torr. 1 torr = 133 Pa
Pa, whereas 1 torr corresponds
to 1 mmHg. The standard atmospheric pressure is 760 mm Hg = 760 torr = 1013 mbar = 101’325 Pa =
1013 hPa. This is a typical atmospheric pressure. Generally the air pressure is influenced by the weather
and the altitude. The unit torr was named after Evangelista Torricelli who discovered that the height of the
mercury in glass tubes closed at one end is equal.
equal When the mercury declines from the upper part of the
tube it leaves behind a space without air. Torricelli therefore postulated the vacuum, which could not exist
according to Aristotle’s then believed doctrine.
 Measurement of pressure based on Pascals principle

liquid
q

air

Spinal column pressure

Common blood measurement measurement
Pressure is transmitted undiminished
Maximum Blood pressure: systolic pressure
Minimum Blood pressure: diastolic pressure
Important place the cuff at the height of the heart
 Pressure Distribution in Humans

While lying the pressure distribution in the big arteries is relatively homogeneous (ca. 100 torr
= 133 mbar). Standing, the pressure distribution is inhomogeneous because of the pressure
due to the weight
weight.
In a study of 100 subjects with no known history of hypertension, an average systolic blood
pressure of 112.4 mm Hg and an average diastolic pressure of about 64.0 mm Hg was found
 Pressure sensing element
The pressure sensing
Th i element
l t iis a closed
l d
coiled tube connected to the chamber or
pipe in which pressure is to be sensed. As
the gauge pressure increases the tube
will tend to uncoil, while a reduced gauge
pressure will cause the tube to coil more
tightly. This motion is transferred through
a linkage to a gear train connected to an
indicating needle.
Pressure g
gauges
g and fluidics applications
pp

Bead in 3D Bead placement

movable trap on Pipette and
in 1st trap

Bead in the
double-trap

Bead held automatic

by suction vacuum-pressure
syringe
i
on
Expansion bottles
movable
pipette
p pette 3
m

automatic valves
 Questions
vacuum

p0

760 mmHg
= 760 torr 760mm
= 1013 hPa

Hg

Spinal column pressure

measurement

Whyy can’t an absolute Why is mercury rather than water used

in barometers and in blood pressure
pressure in a gas be less measurements? If a manometer is used
than zero? to measure spinal column pressure, why
i it preferable
is f bl tto use saline
li solution
l ti
rather than mercury?
 Buoyancy
Buoyancy arises from the fact that fluid pressure increases
with depth and from the fact that the increased pressure is
exerted in all directions ((Pascal's p
principle)
p ) so that there is
an unbalanced upward force on the bottom of a submerged
object.

Volume of water in equilibrium: Identical volume of other substance

buoyant force = weight force -> Identical buoyant force
-> can be measured by weight of water
volume
•The
The buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced
•The fraction of the object that is submerged is equal to the ratio of the
density of the object to the density of the fluid
 Buoyancy
Fb
In a liquid an object experiences a
buoyant force Fb through the submerged
volume V.

Fb   F 1 gV
V
Explanation:
We look at a submerged coboid. The
forces due to the weight to the side faces
cancel out each other
other. The difference of
the forces to the base and the top surface w
l
area ( F2  F1 ) are responsible for the
b
buoyancy.

Fb = F2 – F1
= l .w .F1.g(h + a) - l .w .F1 . g .h
= l .w .F1. g .a = F1 . g .V
 Buoyancy
Buoyancy in terms of density:
Density of object < density of water -> floats
‘since object adds less mass to the same volume’
Density object > density of water -> sinks
‘since
since object places more mass in same volume’
volume

Question:
Why does a person not float in air ?
Displaced volume: 0.08m3
Mass of displaced volume: m = .V = 1.25kg/m
1 25kg/m3
0.08m3 = 0.1kg
-> Upward force (weight force) : F = m.g = 0.981 N
-> Typical weight (m=80kg): F = 784.8N
 Ice and Water
• Why does ice float?
 Solids are generally denser than
liquids
 Liquids are generally less dense than
solids
• Ice should sink
• In
I fact,
f t “really”
“ ll ” cold
ld water
t isi d
denser th
than iice (I
(I.e.
o o
water at 2 C is denser than ice at 0 C)
• If this wasn’t true, oceans and lakes would freeze
from the bottom up
 Hydrometer

What is the density of the person?

mperson=80kg
msubmerged=2kg
2kg

Cross section of a ship. A hygrometer floating in

The average density of a fluid of density
the ship is les than that 0.87g/cm3. The greater
of water. the density the higher the
hygrometer will float.
 Flowing liquid
Equation of Continuity
• The flow of a liquid is constant throughout a system (if no
liquid is added or subtracted)
• The amount of water going into a pipe is the same as
coming out
• Amount of liquid flow is:
Flow = .A.v
 Flow: Poiseuille
Poiseuille’s
s law

F V
t

F
 P1  P2 
R
Flow
o rate
ate iss de
defined
ed as the
e
8L
volume flowing per unit time.
R 4
The quantitative relationship
between flow rate and pressure is r
given in the middle equation to the
right where R is the resistance to
right, (eta) = viscosity
flow.
 Flow rate in tubes
F  P1  P2  / R

F P1  P2  / R

F  P1  P2      L   r  4

         4 
F P1  P2       L   r 
Lets double the tube length and see
what happens to the flow rate:

F  L   L  1
  
F  L   2 L  2
 Next Lecture
• To Be Covered: Fluids and Flow

• Reading: Chapter 6
 Section 6
6.5;
5; 6
6.6
6