Addis Ababa Science & Technology University

Department of Physics

General Physics (phys1001 )

Chapter - 3
Fluid Mechanics
 FLUID MECHANICS

• Fluid mechanics: is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids in motion (fluid
dynamics) or at rest (fluid statics) and the forces on them.

• Fluid: a fluid is a substance that continually deforms (flows) under an applied shear stress, or external
force.

• A Fluid is a collection of molecules that are randomly arranged and held together by weak cohesive
forces and by forces exerted by the walls of a container

• Fluids are a phase of matter and include liquids and gases.

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 Density and Pressure in Static Fluids
• The quantity which is useful to compare the masses of different substances of equal volumes is the density.

• Density (ρ) : is the quantity of mass (m) per unit volume (V) of a body

• Two objects made of the same material have the same density even though they may have different masses and
different volumes.
• Specific gravity (SG): is the ratio of the density of the substance to the density of another substance which is
taken as a standard(water.)

Example:
A solid sphere made of wood has a radius of 0.1 m. The mass of the sphere is 1.0 kg. Determine
a) density and b) specific gravity of the wood.
Solution

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 Pressure
• is the ratio of the force acting perpendicular to surface to the surface area (A) on which the force acts.

• SI unit of pressure = N/m2 called Pascal (Pa).

Variation of Pressure with Depth

- consider a liquid of density ꝸ at rest as shown in Fig. contained within an imaginary cylinder
of cross-sectional area A extending from depth d to depth d + h.

(this is, the pressure P at a depth h below a point in the liquid )

• The pressure produced by the column of fluid of height h and density ꝸ

is given by:

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Absolute Pressure (total pressure ):
• is the sum of gauge pressure and atmospheric pressure:

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 Pressure Measurements
1. A mercury Barometer : used to measure atmospheric pressure

2. Open-tube Manometer: used to measure the pressure of a gas contained in a vessel

• The difference P - Po is called the Gauge pressure( Ptot - Patm

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Example :-
1. A girl of mass 50kg is wearing high-heeled shoes with heels of total area , what pressure will she exert when all her
weight rests on the heel?
Solution ;the girl exerts pressure due to her weight , her weight is =
The pressure she exerts , with = ,then the pressure

2. calculate the pressure at a depth of 0.6m in kerosene whose density is 800 , what would be the pressure at the same
depth if the liquid were water?
Solution: , , the pressure is calculated using
=

If the liquid were water, and the pressure would be

= =

For the same depth, water exerts more pressure than kerosene.

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3. how much length of mercury will exert pressure equal to that of 34m of water? Given density of mercury and density of
water
Solution : let height of mercury and height of water column
density of mercury and density of water
We are given that where is constant

=
= = 2.5m
4. A container has a 10cm thick layer of oil on 28cm of water. What is the total pressure of the fluids at the bottom of the
container where the density of oil is 0.85 ?
Solution: the pressure at the bottom is the sum of pressure exerted by the oil and water

=
=
=9.8
=
=
= =

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Example
5. A submerged wreck is located 18.3 m beneath the surface of the ocean. Determine
a) gauge pressure and b) absolute pressure .
Note: the density of sea water = 1025 kg/m3

6. A collapsible plastic bag (see figure) contains a glucose solution. If the average gauge pressure in the vein is 1.33 k Pa, what
must be the minimum height h of the bag to infuse glucose into the vein? Assume the specific gravity of the solution is 1.02.

𝑃 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 =𝜌 𝑔h

h=𝑃 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 / 𝜌 𝑔

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 Pascal’s Principle
- sates that pressure applied to a confined fluid in a container is transmitted equally to all regions of the fluid and to the
walls of the container.

• An important application of Pascal's principle is the hydraulic press

• A force of magnitude is applied to a small piston of surface area . The pressure is transmitted through an incompressible
liquid to a large piston of surface area because the pressure must be the same on both sides.

The quantity is called the mechanical advantage of the hydraulic press which is equal to the ratio of the areas. Therefore, the
force is greater than the force by a factor of
• Hydraulic press is a force multiplier

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 1.

2. In a car lift used in a service station, compressed air exerts a force on a small piston that has a circular cross section and a
radius of 5.00 cm. This pressure is transmitted by a liquid to a piston that has a radius of 15.0 cm. What force must the
compressed air exert to lift a car weighing 13 300 N? What air pressure produces this force?

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 Archimedes’s Principle
• States that the magnitude of the buoyant force is always equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by
the object.
=
• Buoyant force: the upward force exerted by a fluid on any immersed object.

Case 1: Totally Submerged Object :

• , the object accelerates upward

• , the object accelerates downward(Sinks)
• , the on the object is zero and it remains in Equilibrium
(Floats.)

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Case 2. Partially submerged(Floating Object/ fraction Submerged)
• .
• In this case, the upward buoyant force is balanced by the down ward gravitational force acting on the object.

• Thus, this equation tells us that the fraction of the volume of a

floating object , i.e, below the fluid surface is equal to the ratio of
the density of the object to that of the fluid.
Fig. An object floating on the surface of a fluid experiences
two forces, the gravitational force Fg and the buoyant force B.
N:B. Buoyant force can be also defined as:
Because the object floats in equilibrium, B = Fg .
B = Weight in air- Weight in fluid

Eg.
Given: W(air) = 4N
W(water)or App. weight = 1N
Hence, B = 4-1 = 3N = weight of disp. fluid

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Note: The fraction submerged is the ratio of the volume submerged to the total volume of the object:

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Example
1. What acceleration will a totally submerged object experience if its density is three times that of the fluid in which it is
submerged?

Q: It's obvious that a piece of steel will sink in water, yet ships made of steel floats. Why?
Discus it in groups.

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Example
2. Suppose a 60.0-kg woman floats in fresh water with 97.0% of her volume submerged when her lungs are full of air. What
is her average density?

Solution:

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 Equation of Continuity
- states that the product of the area and the fluid speed at all points along a pipe is constant for an incompressible fluid.

where, A = area
V = speed

• The equation of continuity says that the volume an incompressible fluid entering one part of a flow tube must be matched
by an equal volume leaving downstream.

Note:
• An important consequence of the equation of continuity is that flow is faster in narrower parts of a flow tube, slower in
wider parts.
i.e. the speed (v) is inversely proportional to Area (A)
• The product AV is called volume flux or flow rate(R) or discharge(Q) which has the dimensions of volume per unit time

Q=A x V , SI unit of R or Q is

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Proof of equation of continuity
In a time interval , the fluid at the bottom end of the pipe moves a distance . If is the cross-sectional area in this region, then
mass of fluid contained in this region is

Where is the unchanging density of the ideal fluid

Similarly, the fluid that moves through the upper end of the pipe in the time interval has a mass

However, because the fluid is incompressible and because the flow is steady, the mass that crosses in time interval must equal
the mass that crosses in the same time interval.

=
== Constant

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Examples
1. water flow through a pipe of circular cross-section having a diameter of at and as shown
below. If the speed of the water at is , find is speed at ?
Solution : =12cm , = = = and =

For a steady flow of water in pipes

= =

2. If the rate of flow of water through a horizontal pipe is , what is the speed of water at a point where the diameter of
the pipe is
Solution: rate of flow = = = == =

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3. The radius of aorta is 10mm and the blood flowing through it has a speed 300m.. A capillary has a radius but there are
literally billions of them. The average speed of blood through the capillaries is . Calculate the effective cross-sectional area
of the capillaries and the approximate number of capillaries.

Solution : we are given and cross-sectional area of aorta

Capillaries and cross-sectional area of capillaries
aorta = , capillaries
Assume steady flow of an ideal fluid and apply the equation of continuity

Area of capillaries

Number of capillaries,

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 Bernoulli’s Equation (Conservation of Energy)
• In the steady flow of a non viscous, incompressible fluid of density ρ, the pressure P, the
fluid speed υ, and the elevation y at any two points (1 and 2) are related by the equation :

• To derive Bernoulli’s equation, we will use the work–energy theorem.

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For a horizontal flow (H1 = H2 )
There is no significant change in elevation between points 1 and 2 :

If we assume the fluid is incompressible, then the mass flow rate at points 1 & 2 must be equal.
- This gives us what is call us Continuity Equation, which is just a statement of conservation of mass. Mass flow rate is equal to the
product of the fluid density, the pipe cross-sectional area and the fluid velocity
we can rearrange the cont. Eq to find the velocity at the 2 nd point

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 The cross-sectional area at point 2 (A2) is less than A1. which means the velocity of the flow increases as it passes into the
smaller diameter pipe. This is quite intuitive.

Substituting V2 into Bernoulli's Equation, we can see since the velocity increases between points 1 and 2, the
pressure b/n both points must decrease.(pressure decrease b/n point 1 and 2)

This concept, that for a horizontal flow an increase in fluid velocity must be accompanied by a decrease in pressure , is
one way of formulating Bernoulli’s principle.

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Examples

1. The pipe shown in fig below has a diameter of 16cm at section and 10cm at section . At section the pressure is 200kpa. Point
is 6m higher than point when oil of density flow at a rate of . Find the pressure at point if viscous effects are negligible.

Solution: from Q we have

From Bernoulli’s equation :

, since =0

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2. Horizontal pipe has a constriction in it as shown. At point the diameter is while at point it is only . At point = and = .
Calculate

Solution:
= =

From the equation of continuity :

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To find , we use Bernoulli’s equation:-
since
==

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3. In the horizontal constricted pipe illustrated in Fig below, determine the flow speed at point 2 if the pressure difference
P1 & P2 is known.

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4. An enclosed tank containing a liquid of density has a hole in its side at a distance from the tank’s bottom (Fig below).
The hole is open to the atmosphere, and its diameter is much smaller than the diameter of the tank. The air above the liquid
is maintained at a pressure P. Determine the speed of the liquid as it leaves the hole when the liquid’s level is a distance h
above the hole.
Solution
Because A2 >> A1,(i.e V2 << V1), the liquid is approximately
at rest at the top of the tank, where the pressure is P.
Applying Bernoulli’s equation to points 1 and 2 and noting
that at the hole P1 is equal to atmospheric pressure P0, we find
that

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Class Work
5. Using example 4:
If Pa, Pa
find :
a)
b)

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6 .

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END !

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 Additional
Archimedes’s Principle
Floating and sinking - Archimedes' principle

You will be aware that some objects float in water and that others sink. When you swim you feel that you are lighter and more buoyant. The general concept
that governs floating and sinking is called Archimedes' principle

1. Archimedes Principle:
An object immersed in a liquid experiences an upward force, called upthrust or buoyancy. This has been generally recognised for a long time. It was the Greek
mathematician and philosopher Archimedes (287-212 BC) who first put it into a general principle. His statement, now known as Archimedes' principle, was
that "when an object is immersed in a liquid the upthrust is equal to the weight of liquid displaced by the object".
Thus, a rubber duck floats because its mass is equalled by the water it displaces before it physically goes under
the surface. A solid lump of iron on the other hand will sink, because the water cannot displace the mass of the
iron before the iron sinks.

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2. Why do steel ships float?
It's obvious that a piece of steel will sink in water, yet ships made of steel float. There must be some other factor that
comes into play to explain this. Applying Archimedes' principle to the problem the upthrust of the water must be greater
than the mass of the ship, so somehow a great mass of water has to be displaced. This is done by shaping the hull of the
ship in such a way that as the ship sinks into the water it displaces more and more liquid
until a balance is reached between the mass of water displaced and mass of the ship.
This general principle applies to any object made from a material that is more dense
than the liquid it is in.

3. Sinking ships
In the past, some European ships sank when they entered the tropics for the first time. All was well when the
cargo was put aboard in cold, salty waters, but then the ship sank when it reached warmer, less salty seas. The
problem was that Archimedes' principle had not been taken into account. When the ship was first loaded it
floated because cold, salty water has a relatively high density. This meant that less water had to be displaced to
equal the mass of the ship. As the ship steamed to warmer, less salty waters, more water had to be displaced
to maintain equilibrium. The ship dropped lower in the water, sometimes dropping below the waterline, and
sinking. This was overcome by Samuel Plimsoll who marked his ships with what became known as the Plimsoll
Line.

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4. How do submarines float and sink?
Using Archimedes' Principle, it is clear that a change in mass of an object affects how much liquid has to be displaced. In submarines,
this is controlled by ballast tanks. When the tanks are empty, the submarine has less mass and it floats like a normal ship. As water is
allowed into the tanks, the mass of the submarine increases, the downward gravitational force on the submarine increases and the
submarine begins to sink. Careful balancing of the water ballast enables the craft to stay at any chosen depth. The swim bladders of fish
work in a similar manner

5. What about balloons?

Archimedes' principle applies to any fluid so it works for a balloon in air too. If a balloon is filled with a
gas which is less dense than air, it will float. In a hot air balloon the air trapped in the canopy is less
dense than the surrounding air so again the balloon will rise

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Example ( Serway. 6th ed. Page: 451 Solution

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Example
Solution

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