Object

The object of this experiment was to calculate the hydrostatic force a fluid exerts on a
submerged plane surface and then compare the experimental hydrostatic force to the
theoretical hydrostatic force.

Theory

A fluid at rest is said to be in a static condition. Consider a small three dimensional

“chunk” of a static fluid, called a fluid particle as seen in Figure 1. The fluid particle
experiences a constant pressure on all sides acting inward towards a single point at its
center. The horizontal x and y components of the pressure are equal and opposite and have
a net sum of zero. It can then be said that the pressure does not change in the horizontal
direction.

Figure 1:

Diagram of a fluid particle with the acting pressures and forces.

The pressure components acting in the vertical z direction are also equal and opposite in
magnitude and negate one another. The only component of Figure one that is not negated is
the weight of the fluid particle that acts vertically along the z axis. By Newton’s Second Law,
the force of weight is expressed as the product of mass, m ,and acceleration, a.

F = ma (Equation 1)

The mass of the fluid particle can be expressed as the product of its density,

Ρ, and its volume, V.

m =ρV (Equation 2)

Substituting Equation 2 into Equation 1

for the mass term and letting the acceleration term equal gravitationalacceleration yields:

F =ρVg (Equation 3)

To calculate the theoretical resultant force, R

, that acts on the submerged plane of the torus, thehydrostatic equation is applied.
Substituting the vertical depth of

sinΘz

into the hydrostatic equation

(Equation5)

, where z

is the distance from the centroid of the plane to the free surface, and integrating with
respect to thearea of the pressure gradient will yield the equation of the resultant force of
the pressure gradient.

∫P

dA =

∫ρgsinΘz

dA

ρgsinΘz
c

(Equation 6)

The components of

Equation 6

are as follows:

= the density of the fluidg = gravitational accelerationz

= the distance from the free surface to the centroid of the planeA = the area of the
submerged planeTo calculate the distance from the surface of the fluid to the centroid of
the submerged plane of the torus,z

, employ the following equation where R

is the inner radius of the torus, R

is the outer radius of the torus and zis vertical height from the pivot to the fluid level.

= (R

z) + (R

–
R

)/2

(Equation 7)

After determining the distance from the surface of the fluid to the centroid of the
submerged plane in

Equation 7

Equation 6

may be used to calculate the theoretical resultant force Rf. To calculate the
experimentalresultant force of the fluid in the torus of the center of pressure apparatus, a
sum of the moments about the pivotpoint must calculated. To obtain the distance of the
resultant force to the pivot point, z

, employ

Equation 8

belowwhere I

xx,c

is the second moment of inertia of a square specimen, z

(Equation 7)

is the distance from the centroidto the free surface, and A is the area of the submerged
plane.

=I

xx,c

/ (z
c

A) + z

(Equation 8

The second moment of inertia formula is as follows, where b is the length of the base of the
submergedplane and h is the height of the submerged plane:

xx,c

= (1/12) bh

(Equation 9)

To calculate the sum of the moments acting around the pivot of the lever arm of the
apparatus, employEquation 10 below where R

is the experimental resultant force to be determined, z is the vertical distance fromthe fluid
level to the pivot, z

is the distance from the resultant force to the pivot, W is the weight applied to theweight
hanger and L is the moment arm of the apparatus. The equation is set equal to zero and
rearrangedalgebraically in Equation 11 so as to solve for the experimental resultant force the
fluid exerts on the submergedplane of the torus.

ΣM

=R

(z + z
R

WL = 0

(Equation 10)

= WL / (z + z

(Equation 11
Procedure

Equipment:

TQ H11 Center of Pressure Apparatus (SN: A0390/10)

Weights in any increment

WaterExperiment:1.

Place the center of pressure apparatus on a level surface. This is important for obtaining an
accurate forcebalance scenario.2.

Add weight to the weight hanger of the center of pressure apparatus. For example, add 20
grams. Thehanger can be found on the far left of the apparatus as seen in Figure 1.3.

Pour water into the torus until the added weight of the water balances the lever arm about
the pivot to ahorizontal position.4.

Record the vertical height of the water in the torus relative to the pivot of the lever arm.
This value will beneeded to calculate the moment the hydrostatic force the fluid exerts on
the plane at the bottom of the torus.5.

Repeat Steps 2 through 4 for four more weights. It is not important to use an identical
increment of weightfor each trial. It is, however, important to reference the vertical height
from the free surface of the fluid in thetorus to the pivot of the lever arm.6.

Use Equation 11 to calculate the experimental hydrostatic force the water exerts on the
submerged plane of the torus. Use Equation 6 to calculate the theoretical hydrostatic force
the water exerts on the submergedplane of the torus.
Discussion & Conclusion

In summing the moments about the pivot of the apparatus, the buoyant force is neglected.
As seen in theapparatus setup in Figure 2, the fluid resides inside the torus. The presence of
buoyancy comes from the air outsideof the torus. Because the density of air is a mere
fraction of that of the material of the torus and the fluid it contains,it can be neglected in the
hydrostatic force calculations. The weight of the torus can also be neglected. Because
thecenter of the curvature of the torus is at the location of the pivot, it is negated. The
weight of the torus was notincluded in the calculations because the device was calibrated
with ballast water so as to begin the experiment witha net moment of zero about the pivot.
It was noted that a large discrepancy between the theoretical andexperimental values
occurred. This is most likely due to errors in measurement of the height of the fluid inside
of the torus. Another possible cause could be that the apparatus was not sitting level on the
counter where theexperiment was performed. If the apparatus is not sitting level, the
moment calculations will yield inaccurateresults. A leveling device on or near the testing
apparatus would aid in ensuring the moment balance is accurate.Another source of error
would be the use of the accepted density of water, 1000kg/m

, for the theoreticalcalculation of the hydrostatic force. This accepted value is the density of
sea water at 4

C. The water used in thisexperiment was tap water at approximately 23

C. However, if the actual density of the tap water was used, thetheoretical calculations
would not differ greatly enough to compensate for the magnitude of the error.