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Pressure

Pressure is defined as force per unit area. It can be measured in units such as pounds per square inch (psi) or pascals (Pa). The pressure exerted by a liquid in a container is calculated by dividing the total weight of the liquid by the area of the container base. Specific gravity is a dimensionless value that compares the density of a material to that of water, and is used to identify common materials. There are different types of pressure measurements including static, dynamic, impact, atmospheric, absolute, gauge and differential pressures.

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85 views2 pages

Pressure

Pressure is defined as force per unit area. It can be measured in units such as pounds per square inch (psi) or pascals (Pa). The pressure exerted by a liquid in a container is calculated by dividing the total weight of the liquid by the area of the container base. Specific gravity is a dimensionless value that compares the density of a material to that of water, and is used to identify common materials. There are different types of pressure measurements including static, dynamic, impact, atmospheric, absolute, gauge and differential pressures.

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irma el
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Pressure is the force exerted by gases and liquids due to their weight, such as the pressure of the

atmosphere on the surface of the earth and the pressure containerized liquids exert on the bottom and
walls of a container.

Pressure units are a measure of the force acting over a specified area. It is most commonly expressed in
pounds per square inch (psi), sometimes pounds per square foot (psf) in English units, or pascals (Pa or
kPa) in metric units.

Pressure= force area

The liquid in a container has a total weight of 250 lb; the container has a 3.0 ft2 base. What is the
pressure in pounds per square inch?

Density r is defined as the mass per unit volume of a material, i.e., pound (slug) per cubic foot (lb
(slug)/ft3 ) or kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3 ).

Specific weight g is defined as the weight per unit volume of a material, i.e., pound per cubic foot
(lb/ft3 ) or newton per cubic meter (N/m3 ).

Specific gravity of a liquid or solid is a dimensionless value since it is a ratio of two measurements in the
same unit. It is defined as the density of a material divided by the density of water or it can be defined
as the specific weight of the material divided by the specific weight of water at a specified temperature.
The specific weights and specific gravities of some common materials are given in Table 5.1. The specific
gravity of a gas is its density/specific weight divided by the density/specific weight of air at 60°F and 1
atmospheric pressure (14.7 psia). In the SI system the density in g/cm3 or Mg/m3 and SG have the same
value. Static pressure is the pressure of fluids or gases that are stationary or not in motion (see Fig. 5.1).
Point A is considered as static pressure although the fluid above it is flowing.

Figure 5.1 Illustration of static, dynamic, and impact pressures.

Dynamic pressure is the pressure exerted by a fluid or gas when it impacts on a surface or an object due
to its motion or flow. In Fig. 5.1 the dynamic pressure is (B − A).

Impact pressure (total pressure) is the sum of the static and dynamic pressures on a surface or object.
Point B in Fig. 5.1 depicts the impact pressure.
Pressure Measurement There are six terms applied to pressure measurements. They are as follows:

Total vacuum which is zero pressure or lack of pressure, as would be experienced in outer space.

Vacuum is a pressure measurement made between total vacuum and normal atmospheric pressure
(14.7 psi).

Atmospheric pressure is the pressure on the earth’s surface due to the weight of the gases in the earth’s
atmosphere and is normally expressed at sea level as 14.7 psi or 101.36 kPa. It is however, dependant
on atmospheric conditions. The pressure decreases above sea level and at an elevation of 5000 ft drops
to about 12.2 psi (84.122 kPa).

Absolute pressure is the pressure measured with respect to a vacuum and is expressed in pounds per
square inch absolute (psia).

Gauge pressure is the pressure measured with respect to atmospheric pressure and is normally
expressed in pounds per square inch gauge (psig). Figure 5.2a shows graphically the relation between
atmospheric, gauge, and absolute pressures.

Differential pressure is the pressure measured with respect to another pressure and is expressed as the
difference between the two values. This would represent two points in a pressure or flow system and is
referred to as the delta p

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