General

Physics 1
PRESSURE
• Pressure is defined as the magnitude of the
Force acting perpendicular per unit Area of the
surface.
𝐹
•P =
𝐴
 PRESSURE
• Named after the French scientist Blaise Pascal.
• SI unit is Pa (Pascal)
𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏
• 1 Pa is equivalent to 1
𝒎𝟐
• The atm (atmospheric pressure) is a commonly used unit of
pressure and is defined as the average air presure at sea
level.
• Other units of pressure equivalent to 1 atm:
•A volunteer weighing 750 N sits on a bed
of 150 closely spaced nails. Each nail has a
cross-sectional area of 0.0025 m^2. Assuming
that the volunteer occupies the entire
space of 150 nails,
•(a) what pressure do the nails exert on the
volunteer?
•(b) if instead the volunteer sits on only 1
nail, how much pressure does the nail
exert on him?
PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
 HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
•Hydrostatic Pressure is the force per unit
area that a confined liquid exerts on all
parts of its container or on any part of the
object immersed in it.
•The forces exerted by the liquid are
perpendicular to the walls of the
container.
 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
•The pressure on a given point in the liquid
is the same in all directions.
•However, the pressure that a liquid exerts
on an object immersed in it depends on
the depth of the object and the density of
the liquid.
 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
•Imagine a block with a horizontal area A
that is immersed in a liquid at a depth h.
•The column of liquid directly above the
area exerts a downward force F on it.
•This force equals the weight w of the
liquid.
•In symbols, F = w = mg = (ρV)g
 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
•F = w = mg = (ρV)g
•Where ρ is the density of the liquid,
•V is the volume of the liquid above
the area A (equal to the area A
multiplied by the height h of the
liquid above it), and
•g is the acceleration due to gravity.
 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
•Since V = Ah,
•F = ρAhg
•Therefore, the pressure due to the
weight of the liquid is
𝑭 𝝆𝒈𝒉𝑨
•P= =
𝑨 𝑨
•P = 𝝆𝒈𝒉
 PRESSURE IN LIQUIDS
• P = 𝝆𝒈𝒉
• Note that the area does not affect the pressure at a
given depth.
• Furthermore, the pressure exerted by a fluid at rest
on an object is directly proportional to the density of
the liquid and depth of the object h.
• This hydrostatic pressure is sometimes called gauge
pressure as it ignores the atmospheric pressure
above the liquid.
HYDROSTATIC PARADOX
 HYDROSTATIC PARADOX
• Simon Stevin, a Flemish mathematician,
physicist and engineer, discovered the so-
called hydrostatic paradox, that is, the
downward pressure of a liquid does not
depend on the shape of the container but only
on the height of the liquid.
• Blaise Pascal built an apparatus, now known
as Pascal vases, demonstrating this paradox.
 HYDROSTATIC
PARADOX

•If liquid is poured

into them, the
liquid will stand
at the same level
in each container.
What is the total
pressure 5000 m
below the
surface of
water?
How high should an
intravenous bag be for the
fluid to just enter the vein?

Assume that the density of

the fluid is equal to that of
water and the blood
pressure is 20 mmHg above
atmospheric pressure.
ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE
AND BUOYANCY
 ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE
• Main Idea: A fluid exerts a buoyant
force on an object immersed in it.

• Question: What factors determine

whether an object will float or sink?
 ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE
• When an object is immersed in water or in
any fluid, the pressure exerted on the
lower surface, is greater than the pressure
on the upper surface.
• This difference in pressure leads to an
upward force acting on the object due to
fluid pressure.
• This upward force is called Buoyant force.
 ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE

•Archimedes’ principle states that the

magnitude of buoyant force 𝐹𝐵 on a
submerged object is equal to the
weight of the fluid displaced by the
object.
 ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE
• Archimedes’ principle states
that the magnitude of
buoyant force 𝐹𝐵 on a
submerged object is equal to
the weight of the fluid
displaced by the object.
• 𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹2 − 𝐹1 = 𝑃2 𝐴2 − 𝑃1 𝐴1
 • 𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹2 − 𝐹1 = 𝑃2 𝐴2 − 𝑃1 𝐴1
• Since 𝐹2 and 𝐹1 act on an equal
magnitude of area, 𝐴2 = 𝐴1 = 𝐴 .
Therefore,
• 𝐹𝐵 = (𝑃2 −𝑃1 ) 𝐴
• 𝐹𝐵 = (𝝆𝒈𝒉2 −𝝆𝒈𝒉1 ) 𝐴
• Since V = hA, 𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹𝐵 = (𝝆𝐹 𝑔) 𝑉𝐹 .
• Therefore,
• 𝐹𝐵 = 𝝆𝐹 𝑉𝐹 𝑔. But 𝑚 = 𝜌𝑉, thus 𝐹𝐵 = 𝒎𝐹 𝑔
• The equation then becomes
• 𝑭𝑩 = 𝑾𝑭
3 types of Buoyancy
3 types of Buoyancy
Negative, Positive and Neutral Buoyancy
•An object placed in a fluid such as water
can do three things:
•It can sink. We call this negative buoyancy.
•It can float. We call this positive buoyancy. If we
push the object below the surface of the water
and let go, the positive buoyancy force pushes it
back up again above the surface.
•It can stay submerged below the surface and
neither sink to the bottom nor float back to the
surface. If it's moved to a different depth below
the surface, it stays in that position. This is called
neutral buoyancy.
• It's because of the upthrust or buoyancy force.

• This accounts for the difference and the object

appearing lighter.

• The 6 kg weight acts downwards, but it's as though 2

kg is pushing upwards acting as support and lessening
the weight of the iron. So the scales indicates a
smaller net weight of 4 kg. This upthrust equals the
weight of the displaced water we collected in the pan
of the second scales.
 Negative Buoyancy and Sinking Bodies
• In the first experiment we did earlier, the iron weight sank
below the water as it was lowered.
• The 6 kg iron weight we used displaces water. However,
the weight of the water displaced is only 2 kg.
• So according to the principle of Archimedes, the buoyant
force is 2 kg acting upwards on the iron weight.
• Since this is less than 6 kg, it isn't enough to support the
weight in the water. We call this negative buoyancy.
• If the weight was detached from the hook of the weighing
scales, it would sink.
What are Examples of
Things That Need
Negative Buoyancy?

• Anchors need to
have negative
buoyancy so they
can sink to the
ocean floor.
• Fishing net sinkers
to keep nets open
 Positive Buoyancy and Floating objects
• What happens if a weight
floats and doesn't sink?
• In the diagram below we
lower a hollow steel ball
into the tank.
• This time we know the
weight is 3 kg.
 Positive Buoyancy and Floating objects
• The chain goes slack
if we move the
scales closer to the
water surface,
because the weight
floats and doesn't
pull down on it.
 Positive Buoyancy and Floating objects
• In reality the chain
has weight and will
pull down on the
scales, but for the
sake of the
experiment, let's
imagine it's
weightless.
• The scale indicates
0 kg.
 Positive Buoyancy and Floating objects
• The water displaced weighs the same as the weight
this time.
 Positive Buoyancy and Floating objects
• So what happens in this scenario is that the ball displaces water and
settles lower and lower in the water until the upthrust equals its
weight. The force of gravity on the object acting downwards, i.e. its
weight, is balanced by a buoyant force or upthrust acting upwards.
Since the two are the same, the object floats.

• In this second scenario, the object doesn't become fully submerged.

• If we push the ball below the surface, it will displace more water,
increasing the buoyant force. This force will be greater than the
weight of the ball and the positive buoyancy will cause it to rise up
out of the water and just displace enough water until the buoyant
force and weight are equal again.
• What are Examples of Things That Need Positive Buoyancy?
• Lifebelts (lifebuoys)
• Marking and meteorological buoys
• Ships
• Swimmers
• Life jackets
• Floats on fishing lines
• Floats in toilet cisterns and float switches
• Flotation tanks/bags for recovering lost cargo/archaeological
artefacts/submerged vessels
• Floating oil rigs and wind turbines
 Neutral Buoyancy
• Neutral buoyancy occurs when the average density
of an object is the same as the density of the fluid it
is immersed in.
• When the object is below the surface, it neither
sinks nor floats.
• It can be positioned at any depth below the surface
and will stay there until another force moves it to a
new location.
• What are Examples of Things That Need Neutral Buoyancy?
• Diver
• Submarine
• Submarines need to be able to control their buoyancy. So when
there is a requirement to dive, large tanks are filled with water,
producing negative buoyancy enabling them to sink. Once they
reach the required depth, buoyancy is stabilised so that it
becomes neutral. The sub can then cruise at a constant depth.
When the sub needs to rise again, water is pumped out of the
ballast tanks and replaced by air from compression tanks. This
gives the submarine positive buoyancy, allowing it to float to
the surface.
• Humans naturally float in a
vertical position with their
noses just under the water if
they relax their muscles.
Scuba divers keep their
buoyancy neutral by using
belts with lead weights
attached.
• This allows them to stay
underwater at a desired depth
without having to continually
swim downwards.
• Why do Ships Float?
• Ships weigh thousands of tons, so how come they can
float? If a stone or a coin is dropped into water it will sink
straight to the bottom.

• The reason ships float is because they displace lots of

water. Think of all the space inside a ship. When a ship is
launched into water, it pushes all the water out of the way
and the massive upthrust balances the downwards weight
of the ship, allowing it to float.
• Why do Ships Sink?
• Positive buoyancy keeps a ship afloat because the weight
of the ship and buoyant force are balanced.
• However, if too much heavy cargo is taken on by a ship, its
total weight could exceed the buoyant force and it could
sink. If the hull of a ship is holed, water will run into the
hold.
• As water rises in the ship, it weighs down on the inside of
the hull, causing the total weight to be greater than the
buoyant force, making the ship sink.
• Why do Ships Sink?
• A ship would also sink if we could magically crush all the
steel structures and hull into a block.
• Because the block would take up a small fraction of the
original volume of the ship, it wouldn't have the same
displacement and therefore negative buoyancy.
ß