Transmitting+Pressure+In+A+Fluid





In the 1600's, a French mathematician named Blaise Pascal came up with a principle to explain how pressure is transmitted in a fluid. The reason why pressure is measured in Pascal units is because of Blaise's last name. Pascal discovered that pressure increases by the same amount throughout an enclosed or confirmed fluid (Jones).

Blaise Pascal



Fluid exerts pressure on any surface it touches. For example, water in a bottle is putting force on the bottle in all directions. Squeezing the bottle increases the pressure in all directions. When you squeeze the bottle with the cap on, the water has nowhere to go, so it pushes harder on the inside of the bottle, the water pressure then increases everywhere in the bottle. Pascal found out that water pressure increases constantly by the same amount throughout an enclosed or confined fluid. When force is exerted to a confined fluid, the change in pressure increases by the same amount and is equally transmitted to all parts of that fluid. This is called Pascal's Principle (Jones).



 This is a short video made on xtranormal.com explaining transmitting pressure in a fluid, and Pascal's principle.

media type="custom" key="5156315"



A significant property of pressure is that it is transmitted through a fluid. When an inflated bicycle tube is pressed at one point, for example, the pressure increases at every other point in the tube. Measurements show that the increase is the same at every point and equal to the applied pressure. For example, if an extra pressure of 5 pascals were suddenly applied at the tube valve, the pressure would increase at every point of the tube by exactly the same amount. This property of transmitting pressure undiminished is a well established experimental fact, and it is a property possessed by all fluids. The transmission does not happen instantaneously, but at a rate that depends on the speed of sound in the medium and the shape of the container. The speed of sound is important because it measures the rate at which pressure disturbances propagate (sound is just a pressure disturbance travelling through a medium). The shape of the container is important because pressure waves refract and reflect off the walls of the container and this increases the distance and time the pressure waves need to travel. This theory should be familiar to anyone who has experienced the imperfect acoustics of a poorly designed concert hall.


 * __Where We Found Our Information__**

"Blaise Pascal." //The Bus Starts Here...In Paris//. Web. 12 Jan 2010. "Glitter Text." //Comment Haven//. Tues.12 Jan 2010. []. //__Jones, T.__// Motion, Forces, and Energy//__. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson, 2009. Print.__// "Pascal's Principle." //Pressure= Force Per Unit Area//. Web. 12 Jan 2010. Pressure." Princeton: Web. [].