CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE 3.1 PRESSURE

(a) Press a thumbtack into a piece of wood Photograph 1

(b) Press a coin into a piece of wood

You can press thumbtack into a piece of wood. Why cant you press a coin into the same piece of wood even though you exert the same amount of force?

Photograph 2 It is easier to walk on the soft ground of the field with sports shoes compared to high-heeled shoes. 1. 2. Pressure is defined ____________________________________________________________. The unit for pressure is ___________. 1 Pascal is equal to 1 Newton per square meter (N m-2).

Applications of Pressure

Figure 1 Photograph shows some applications of pressure. A sharp knife has a very small surface area on its cutting edge so that a high pressure can be exerted to cut the meat.

Figure 2 The four concrete blocks at the base of the refrigerator increase the area of contact with the floor, and this reduce the pressure on the floor and helps prevent damage to the floor.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

Figure 4 Figure 3 A tractor moving on soft ground has wide tyres to reduce the pressure on the ground so that they will not sink into the ground. An elephant is able to move on soft ground or mud because the large surface area of its feet reduces the pressure on the ground. With all four feet on the ground, the total surface area is very large. Hence, less pressure is exerted on the ground.

Department of Physics SSI/11

CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

Department of Physics SSI/11

CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

3.2 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS

Figure 5 A diver experience discomfort to his body and ears when he dives deeper underwater. The cause of this is that the water exerts a pressure on the body of the diver. The pressure in water is due to the weight of the water above the diver. 1. A liquid such as water exerts pressure on its container and all objects placed in it. 2. Pressure in a liquid acts in all directions. This can be illustrated as in figure by filling a plastic bag with water and poking several holes in various part of it. When squeezed, water will spurt out at equal speed in all direction.

Figure 6 Relationship of Depth, Density and Gravitational Field Strength to Pressure in Liquids. 1. Figure 7, shows a column of liquid with a density of /kg m-3 and base surface area of A/m2. The depth of the base is h/m. 2. The column of liquid exerts a pressure on the base due to its weight.

Figure 7
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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE 3. Volume of the liquid Mass of the liquid Weight of the liquid Pressure in liquid, P P = = = = = ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

4. Factors Influencing the Pressure in Liquids. (a) (b) (c) _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________

Figure 8: The pressure in liquid increase with depth.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

Figure 9 5. Figure 9 shows a thistle funnel covered with a rubber sheet immersed in a cylinder filled with a liquid. The height l of water column in the manometer / U-tube represents the pressure in the thistle funnel. If the thistle funnel is lowered into the water at different depths, h the height l of water column in the manometer will be change. This show that the liquid pressure is affect by the depth. 6. If this experiment is repeated by replacing the water in the plastic bottle with alcohol or glycerine with a different density respectively. The height l of water in the manometer will be change depends on the type of liquid. This shows that the pressure in liquid is influence by density of liquid. Applications of Pressure in Liquids

Huge water tanks for storing and supplying water to surrounding residential area are constructed at higher ground than the houses. This is to ensure that the pressure of water flowing out of the taps at the houses is high.

Figure shows a patient receiving an intravenous injection. For the fluid to flow from the container into the vein of the patient, it must be of greater pressure than the blood pressure in the vein. To achieve that, the intravenous bottle needs to be placed at a minimum height above the injection site.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

Dams are built across rivers to stop the river flows and to form a lake for the purpose of water supply. In order for the dam to be able to sustain stronger force acting on it at a greater depth, the structure of the dam needs to have a wider base.

Submarines and divers need to have pressure resistance. In order to explore the deepest part of the oceans, costly deep submergence vehicles are needed. For the divers they need to wear special metal suits to withstand the high pressure.

Department of Physics SSI/11

CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

Department of Physics SSI/11

CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

3.3
1.

UNDERSTANDING GAS PRESSURE AND ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

The gas pressure inside a container depends on the rate of collision of gas molecules with the inner walls.

Gas molecules

Figure 8 Figure 8, shows a closed container with gas molecules moving randomly at temperature T. The collisions of the gas molecules with the inner walls of the container exert a pressure, p. 2. 3. 4. The atmosphere is a thick layer of air that surrounds the earth. Atmospheric pressure is caused by the weight of the thick layer of air above the earths surface and acts on every object on the surface of the earth. The activities below show the existence of atmospheric pressure.

A glass is completely filled with water and then covered with a cardboard. It is then inverted as shown. The cardboard does not fall off due to the support from the atmospheric pressure.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE

(a)

A little water is poured into a metal can.

(b)

The metal can is heated until the water in it vaporises.

(d) (c) Then, the can is closed with a stopper and cold water is poured on it, the water vapour inside the can condenses and it form partial vacuum inside the can.

The atmospheric pressure outside which is greater then compresses the metal can. The can is crushed and crumpled.

5.

The atmospheric pressure can be expressed as follows: 1 atmosphere (atm) at sea level = = = ___________ ___________ ___________

6.

Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, or height above sea level. At higher altitudes, the density and the temperature of the air are lower. As the result, the frequency of collision of the molecules is lower. Hence, the atmospheric pressure is lower.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE Instruments for Measuring Gas Pressure and Atmospheric Pressure 1. Bourdon gauge

Bourdon gauge is an instrument for measuring gas pressure. The movement of a gas into the hollow copper tube causes it to straighten slightly. A system of lever and gear will enable a pointer to move along the round scale indicating the pressure of the gas measure.

2. Manometer

A manometer consists of a U-tube that is filled with a liquid like water, oil or mercury. In figure (a), when both ends of the tube are exposed to atmospheric pressure, both levels are the same. In figure (b), when one end is connected to a gas supply, the difference in level, h gives the pressure of the gas, P. [Where P = atm. Pressure + hg]

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE 3. Barometer (a) Mercury barometer /fortin barometer

A simple mercury barometer can be made by inverting a glass tube of about 100 cm filled with mercury in a bowl. The mercury level in the tube will drop until a level h/mm above the mercury level in the bowl. The level does not drop further because the mercury column is held up by the atmospheric pressure. At sea level, the vertical height, h is equal to 760 mm. A height of 760 mm mercury is known as Standard Atmospheric Pressure or simply 1 atmosphere.

(b) Aneroid Barometer

When the surrounding pressure increases, the top of the can is squeezed slightly causing the pointer to move along the curved scale measuring the corresponding pressure.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Rubber sucker 1. 2. Figure shows a rubber sucker which is a found commonly in all suction hooks. When the rubber sucker is pressed onto a smooth surface, usually a glass or tiled surface, the air in the rubber dish is forced out. This causes the space against the surface to have low pressure. The contact between the rubber dish and the smooth surface is airtight. The external atmospheric pressure, which is much higher, acts on the rubber dish pressing it securely against the wall. Figure above shows some usage of rubber sucker.

3. 4.

5. Drinking Straw 1.

When drinking from a straw, one tends to suck the straw. This causes pressure in the straw to decrease. The external atmospheric pressure, which is greater, will then act on the surface of the water in the glass, causing it to rise up the straw.

2.

Pour milk out of its can

1.

Figure shows condensed milk is being poured out of its can. The presence of a second hole is to enable air to flow into the can and results in the pressure of air in the can same as atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure will force the milk out of the lower hole.

2.

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE Example 1 Figure below shows a simple barometer used in the laboratory to measure atmospheric pressure. The length of the glass tube is 100 cm. The length of the vacuum column is 10 cm and the height of the mercury column is 76 cm. (a) What is the value of the atmospheric pressure in cm Hg? (b) What is the pressure at point X in cm Hg? (c) If the density of the mercury is 1.36 x 104 and g is 9.8 N kg-1, calculate the atmospheric in pascal.

Example 2 A gas is pumped into the left arm of the mercury manometer. The pressure on the left arm and the right arm is in equilibrium when the difference in height of mercury is 50 cm as shown in the diagram below. Calculate the gas pressure. (Density of mercury = 1.36 x 104 kg m-3, atm pressure = 76 cm Hg)

Exercise 3 A mercury manometer with one end attached to a gas supply measures a difference in the level of mercury of 32 cm as shown in figure above. Calculate the pressure of the gas supply in (i) cm Hg (ii) pascal [Atm. Pressure = 76 cm Hg, g = 9.8 N kg-1, density of mercury = 1.36 x 104 kg m-3]

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CHAPTER 3: FORCE AND PRESSURE Exercise 4 A mercury manometer as shown in figure above is used to measure the pressure of certain gas in a metal container.

What is the pressure of the gas? [Atm pressure = 76 cm Hg, density of mercury = 1.36 x 104 kg m-3, g = 10 N kg-1]

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