A fluid is a state of matter that yields to sideways or shearing forces. Liquids and gases are both fluids. Fluid statics is the physics of stationary fluids.
Density is the mass per unit volume of a substance or object, defined as The SI unit of density is
Pressure is the force per unit perpendicular area over which the force is applied, The SI unit of pressure is the pascal: .
Pressure due to the weight of a liquid of constant density is given by , where p is the pressure, h is the depth of the liquid, is the density of the liquid, and g is the acceleration due to gravity.
Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure.
Absolute pressure is the sum of gauge pressure and atmospheric pressure.
Open-tube manometers have U-shaped tubes and one end is always open. They are used to measure pressure. A mercury barometer is a device that measures atmospheric pressure.
The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa), but several other units are commonly used.
Buoyant force is the net upward force on any object in any fluid. If the buoyant force is greater than the object’s weight, the object will rise to the surface and float. If the buoyant force is less than the object’s weight, the object will sink. If the buoyant force equals the object’s weight, the object can remain suspended at its present depth. The buoyant force is always present and acting on any object immersed either partially or entirely in a fluid.
Archimedes’ principle states that the buoyant force on an object equals the weight of the fluid it displaces.
Flow rate Q is defined as the volume V flowing past a point in time t, or where V is volume and t is time. The SI unit of flow rate is but other rates can be used, such as L/min.
Flow rate and velocity are related by where A is the cross-sectional area of the flow and v is its average velocity.
The equation of continuity states that for an incompressible fluid, the mass flowing into a pipe must equal the mass flowing out of the pipe.
Bernoulli’s equation states that the sum on each side of the following equation is constant, or the same at any two points in an incompressible frictionless fluid:
Bernoulli’s principle is Bernoulli’s equation applied to situations in which the height of the fluid is constant. The terms involving depth (or height h) subtract out, yielding
Bernoulli’s principle has many applications, including entrainment and velocity measurement.