audio_fluid_pressure.wma | |
File Size: | 1096 kb |
File Type: | wma |
Fluid Pressure
A fluid is a substance with the ability to flow or move around freely and to take the shape of its container. Therefore, both liquids and gases are fluids. Solids cannot flow, and therefore are not fluids.
Review the particle model of matter here and in the image below:
Review the particle model of matter here and in the image below:
Liquids and gases respond differently to pressure, which is a force over an area, and changing either the area or the force affects the pressure. Review the pressure formula and the relationship between force and area here.
Gases are easy to compress as their particles are spread out and liquids are very difficult to compress because their particles are already so close together. Click here for a description of one way to demonstrate this.
Blaise Pascal was the first to discover that the pressure exerted on a fluid (in a closed container) at one end could be felt, undiminished, at the other end of the container. This is called Pascal’s Law. See the Tutor Vista video below for a demonstration.
Blaise Pascal was the first to discover that the pressure exerted on a fluid (in a closed container) at one end could be felt, undiminished, at the other end of the container. This is called Pascal’s Law. See the Tutor Vista video below for a demonstration.