Pressure

▪ Pressure is defined as a normal force exerted by a

fluid per unit area.
▪ We speak of pressure only when we deal with a gas or
a liquid. The counterpart of pressure in solids is normal
stress.
▪ Since pressure is defined as force per unit area, it has the
unit of newtons per square meter (N/m2), which is called
a pascal (Pa). That is,
1 Pa = 1 N/m2
▪ The pressure unit pascal is too small for pressures
encountered in practice. Therefore, its multiples
kilopascal (1 kPa =103 Pa) and megapascal (1 MPa =106
Pa) are commonly used.
2025-02-13 1
2025-02-13 2
 Pressure
▪ Other pressure units commonly used in practice,
especially in Europe, are bar and standard atmosphere

▪ The actual pressure at a given position is called the

absolute pressure, and it is measured relative to
absolute vacuum (i.e., absolute zero pressure).
▪ Most pressure-measuring devices, however, are
calibrated to read zero in the atmosphere , and so they
indicate the difference between the absolute pressure and
the local atmospheric pressure.This difference is called
the gage pressure.
2025-02-13 3
 Pressure
▪ Pressures below atmospheric pressure are called vacuum
pressures and are measured by vacuum gages that
indicate the difference between the atmospheric pressure
and the absolute pressure.
▪ Absolute, gage, and vacuum pressures are all
positive quantities and are related to each other by

▪ In thermodynamic relations and tables, absolute pressure

is almost always used. Throughout this course, the
pressure P will denote absolute pressure unless specified
otherwise.
2025-02-13 4
 Pressure

2025-02-13 5
2025-02-13 6
 Pressure at a point
▪ Pressure is the compressive force per unit area, and it gives
the impression of being a vector. However, pressure at any
point in a fluid is the same in all directions. That is, it has
magnitude but not a specific direction, and thus it is a
scalar quantity.
▪ This can be demonstrated by considering a small wedge-
shaped fluid element that was obtained by removing a
small triangular wedge of fluid from some arbitrary
location within a fluid mass.
▪ Since we are considering the situation in which there are
no shearing stresses, the only external forces acting on
the wedge are due to the pressure and the weight.

2025-02-13 7
2025-02-13 8
Pressure at a point
▪ For simplicity, the forces in the x direction are not shown,
and the z axis is taken as the vertical axis, the weight acts
in the negative z direction.

2025-02-13 9
 Pressure at a point
⚫ From Newton’s second law, a force balance in the y- and z
directions gives
F y = pyδxδz − psδxδssinθ = 0 (a)
δxδyδz
 Fz = pzδxδy − psδxδscosθ− γ 2
=0 (b)

⚫ where ps, py and pz are the average pressures on the faces, γ

and ρ are the fluid specific weight and density
⚫ From the geometry
δy = δs cosθ z = s sin
⚫ The last term in Eq. b drops out as δx ,δy and δz→0 and the
wedge becomes infinitesimal, and thus the fluid element
shrinks to a point.

2025-02-13 10
 Pressure at a point
▪ Thus, substituting and simplifying results

p y = ps p z = ps or p y = ps = pz

▪ Thus, we conclude that the pressure at a point in a fluid

has the same magnitude in all directions.
▪ It can be shown in the absence of shear forces that this
result is applicable to fluids in motion (rigid body motion,
no relative motion between layers) as well as fluids at
rest.

2025-02-13 11
 Variation of pressure with depth
▪ Pressure in a fluid increases with
depth because more fluid rests on
deeper layers, and the effect of this
“extra weight” on a deeper layer is
balanced by an increase in pressure.
▪ To obtain a relation for the variation
of pressure with depth, consider a
rectangular fluid element of height
z, length x, and (y =1) unit
depth in equilibrium.
▪ Assuming the density of the fluid ρ to
be constant, a force balance in the
vertical z-direction gives

12 2025-02-13 12
 Variation of pressure with depth

▪ Where W =mg = ρgxz is the weight of the fluid element.

▪ Dividing by x and rearranging gives

▪ γs = ρg is the specific weight of the fluid.

▪ Thus, we conclude that the pressure difference between
two points in a constant density fluid is proportional to the
vertical distance z between the points and the density ρ of
the fluid.
▪ In other words, pressure in a fluid increases linearly
with depth

2025-02-13 13
Variation of pressure with depth
⚫ For small to moderate
distances, the variation of
pressure with height is
negligible for gases because of
their low density.
⚫ The pressure in a tank
containing a gas, for example,
can be considered to be
uniform since the weight of the
gas is too small to make a
significant difference.
⚫ Also, the pressure in a room
filled with air can be assumed
to be constant
2025-02-13 14
Variation of pressure with depth

⚫ If we take point 1 to be at the free

surface of a liquid open to the
atmosphere, where the pressure is the
atmospheric pressure Patm then the
pressure at a depth h from the free
surface becomes

⚫ Liquids are essentially incompressible

substances, and thus the variation of
density with depth is negligible.
⚫ This is also the case for gases when
the elevation change is not very large.

2025-02-13 15
 Variation of pressure with depth

⚫ For fluids whose density changes significantly with

elevation, a relation for the variation of pressure with
elevation can be written as

⚫ The negative sign indicates that pressure decreases in an

upward direction.
⚫ When the variation of density with elevation is known the
pressure difference between points 1 and 2 can be
determined by integration to be

2025-02-13 16
Variation of pressure with depth
⚫ Pressure is independent of the shape of the container.
⚫ The pressure is the same at all points on a given horizontal
plane in the same fluid.

2025-02-13 17
Pascal’s Law of Pressure
Pascal’s Law: Pressure applied to a confined fluid is
transmitted equally in all directions.
▪ Discovered by Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
• Key Idea: Force applied to a small piston creates a
greater force on a larger piston
Applications of Pascal’s Law
▪ Hydraulic Brakes – Used in cars and airplanes
▪ Hydraulic Lifts – Used in garages and elevators
▪ Hydraulic Press – Used in industries for shaping and
compressing materials
Practical Benefit:
• Small input force can generate a large output force!
• Makes lifting heavy objects easier!

2025-02-13 18
Variation of pressure with depth
Application of Pascal’s law
⚫ Two hydraulic cylinders of
different areas could be
connected, and the larger
could be used to exert a
proportionally greater
force than that applied to
the smaller.
⚫ Noting that P1 =P2 since
The area ratio A 2 /A1 is called
both pistons are at the
the ideal mechanical advantage
same level.
of the hydraulic lift.

2025-02-13 19
2025-02-13 20
PRESSURE MEASUREMENT DEVICES

• Atmospheric pressure is
measured by a device called
a barometer; thus, the
atmospheric pressure is
often referred to as the
barometric pressure.

2025-02-13 21
• The pressure at point B is equal to the
atmospheric pressure, and the pressure at
point C can be taken to be zero since there is
only mercury vapor above point C and the
pressure is very low relative to P atm and
can be neglected to an excellent
approximation. Writing a force balance in
the vertical direction gives

• where rho is the density of mercury, g is the

local gravitational acceleration, and h is the
height of the mercury column above the free
surface. Note that the length and the cross-
sectional area of the tube have no effect on
the height of the fluid column of a
barometer.
2025-02-13 22
2025-02-13 23
2025-02-13 24
2025-02-13 25
 The Manometer
▪ An elevation change of z in a fluid at rest
corresponds to P/ρg, which suggests that a fluid
column can be used to measure pressure
differences.
▪ A device based on this principle is called a
manometer, and it is commonly used to measure
small and moderate pressure differences.
▪ A manometer mainly consists of a glass or plastic
U-tube containing one or more fluids such as
mercury, water, alcohol, or oil.
▪ To keep the size of the manometer to a manageable
level, heavy fluids such as mercury are used if
large pressure differences are anticipated.

2025-02-13
U-tube Manometer
⚫ Consider the manometer that
is used to measure the
pressure in the tank.
⚫ Since the gravitational effects
of gases are negligible, the
pressure anywhere in the tank
and at position 1 has the same
value. The differential fluid column of
⚫ Furthermore, since pressure in height h is in static equilibrium,
a fluid does not vary in the and it is open to the atmosphere.
horizontal direction within a Then the pressure at point 2 is
fluid, the pressure at point 2 is determined directly by
the same as the pressure at
point 1, P2=P1.

2025-02-13
U-tube Manometer
⚫ where ρ is the density of the
fluid in the tube. Note that
the cross-sectional area of the
tube has no effect on the
differential height h, and thus
the pressure exerted by the
fluid.
⚫ However, the diameter of the
tube should be large enough
(more than a few millimeters)
to ensure that the surface
tension effect and thus the
capillary rise is negligible.

2025-02-13
EXAMPLE 1. Measuring Pressure with a Manometer

⚫ A manometer is used to measure the pressure in a tank. The

fluid used has a specific gravity of 0.85, and the manometer
column height is 55 cm, as shown in the Fig. If the local
atmospheric pressure is 96 kPa, determine the absolute
pressure within the tank.

2025-02-13
Solution

2025-02-13
 Multifluid Manometer

▪ Many engineering problems and some

manometers involve multiple immiscible fluids
of different densities stacked on top of each
other.
▪ Such systems can be analyzed easily by
remembering that
1) The pressure change across a fluid column
of height h is P = ρgh,
2) Pressure increases downward in a
given fluid and decreases upward
(i.e., Pbottom >Ptop), and
3) Two points at the same elevation in a
continuous fluid at rest are at the same
pressure.
2025-02-13 31
Multifluid Manometer
⚫ The last principle, which is a result of
Pascal’s law, allows us to “jump” from
one fluid column to the next in
manometers without worrying about
pressure change as long as we don’t
jump over a different fluid, and the
fluid is at rest.
⚫ Then the pressure at any point can be
determined by starting with a point of
known pressure and adding or
subtracting ρgh terms as we advance
toward the point of interest.

2025-02-13
 Differential Manometer
▪ Manometers are particularly well-
suited to measure pressure drops
across a horizontal flow section
between two specified points due to
the presence of a device such as a
valve or heat exchanger or any
resistance to flow.
▪ This is done by connecting the two
legs of the manometer to these two
points, as shown in the Fig.
▪ The working fluid can be either a
gas or a liquid whose density is ρ1.
The density of the manometer fluid
is ρ2, and the differential fluid height
is h.
2025-02-13
Differential Manometer
⚫ A relation for the pressure
difference P1-P2 can be
obtained by starting at point
1 with P1, moving along the
tube by adding or subtracting
the ρgh terms until we reach
point 2, and setting the result
equal to P2:

Note that we jumped from point A horizontally to point B and

ignored the part underneath since the pressure at both points is
the same. Simplifying

2025-02-13
 EXAMPLE 2. Measuring Pressure with a Multifluid Manometer

⚫ The water in a tank is pressurized by air, and the pressure is measured

by a multifluid manometer as shown in Fig. below. The tank is located
on a mountain at an altitude of 1400 m where the atmospheric pressure
is 85.6 kPa. Determine the air pressure in the tank if h1 =0.1 m, h2 =0.2
m, and h3 = 0.35 m. Take the densities of water, oil, and mercury to be
1000 kg/m3, 850 kg/m3, and 13,600 kg/m3, respectively.

2025-02-13
Solution

2025-02-13
2025-02-13 37
2025-02-13 38
 Exercise 1
⚫ The gage pressure of the air in the tank shown in Fig.
below is measured to be 65 kPa. Determine the
differential height h of the mercury column.

Ans. h= 47 cm
2025-02-13
 Exercise 2
⚫ Freshwater and seawater flowing in parallel horizontal
pipelines are connected to each other by a double U-tube
manometer, as shown in the Fig. Determine the pressure
difference between the two pipelines. Take the density of
seawater at that location to be ρ = 1035 kg/m3. Can the air
column be ignored in the analysis?

Ans. 3.39 kPa

2025-02-13