FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UiTM Terengganu, Bukit Besi Campus

Program
Course
Course Code
Lecturer

:
:
:
:

Diploma in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanics and Materials Lab
MEC294

Laboratory Report
Experiment Title
_____________________Boyles Law_____________________
___________________________________________________

No

Name

1.

MOHD NOALBAWIE BIN MOHD ROMZI

Student ID No
2014376021

Signature

2.
3.
4.

Date of Experiment

__________________

Date of Submission

__________________

Received by:-

________________________
Lecturer
Date :

Contents
1.0

Objectives and Introduction ....................................................................................................... 2

2.0

Theory ......................................................................................................................................... 2

3.0

Apparatus .................................................................................................................................... 2

4.0

Procedure .................................................................................................................................... 2

5.0

Results ......................................................................................................................................... 2

6.0

Discussion.................................................................................................................................... 2

7.0

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 2

8.0

Reference .................................................................................................................................... 2

pg. 2

1.0 Objectives and

Introduction

pg. 3

1.

Objectives

2.

To determine the centre of pressure in both submerged and partially submerged

plane
To compare the centre of pressure between experimental and theoretical

Introduction

We conducted this experiment to meet the objectives and mentioned above. In this
experiment, we are using SOLTEQ Hydrostatic Pressure (model FM35) which was specially
designed to introduce students to the concept of centre of pressure of an object immersed in
fluid. It can be used to measure the static thrust exerted by a fluid on a submerged surface,
either fully or partially, and at the same time allowing the comparison between the magnitude
and direction of the force with theory. The apparatus consists of a specially constructed
quadrant mounted on a balance arm. It pivots on knife edges, which also correspond to the
centre of the arc of quadrant. This means that only the hydrostatic force acting on the
rectangular end face will provide a moment about the knife edges.
The force exerted by the hydraulic thrust is measured by direct weighing. With no water
in the tank, and no weights on the scale, the arm is horizontal. As weights are added one by
one to the scales, water can be added to the tank so that the hydrostatic force balances the
weights and bring the arm back to horizontal. The apparatus was shown below.

SOLTEQ Hydrostatic Pressure (model FM35)

The design of many engineering systems such as water dams and liquid storage tanks
requires the determination of the forces acting on the surfaces using fluid statics. The complete
description of the resultant hydrostatic force acting on a submerged surface requires the
determination of the magnitude, the direction, and the line of action of the force.

pg. 4

2.0 Theory

pg. 5

Theory
When a surface is submerged in a fluid, forces developed on the surface due to the
fluid. For fluid at rest, the force must act perpendicular to the submerged surface. Pressure
will also increase as the depth increased. For water (liquid), the pressure will increase linearly
with increasing depth. The resultant force on the submerged surface will act through the
centre of pressure and not through the centroid. Further explanations can be obtained from
the Fluid mechanic text book.
For partially submerged surface:

Partial Immersed vertical plane surface

Where,
d

=Depth of Immersion in water

=Hydrostatic Force exerted on Water surface

=Depth of centroid from the water surface

=Depth of centre of pressure from the water surface

=Distance between the fulcrum and the centre of pressure

, =

2
2

(Newton)
2

, " = 2 (Meters)
, " = + (Meters)

pg. 6

For a fully submerged vertical plane surface:

Fully immersed Vertical Plane surface

Where,
d

=Depth of Immersion in water

=Hydrostatic Force exerted on Water surface

=Depth of centroid from the water surface

=Depth of centre of pressure from the water surface

=Distance between the fulcrum and the centre of pressure

, = ( 2 ) (Newton)
, " =
"

, =

pg. 7

( )

2
)
12

( )2 +(
( )

(Meters)

+ (Meters)

3.0 Apparatus

pg. 8

Assembly diagram of Hydrostatic Pressure (Model: FM35)

Quadrant
Material: PVC
Total Depth of Quadrant, H: 200 mm
Height of fulcrum above Quadrant: 100 mm
Height of End Surface, D: 100 mm
width, B :75 mm
Length of Balance, L :300 mm
Reservoir Tank
material: Clear Acrylic
volume: 5.5 L
Balance Arm
Distance between suspended mass and fulcrum, L: 290 mm
Set of weights: 50g/each
Overall Dimension
Length: 340 mm
Width: 130 mm
Height: 300 mm

pg. 9

4.0 Procedure

pg. 10

Procedure
12345678910-

pg. 11

The hydrostatic pressure apparatus was placed on top of a hydraulic bench.

The apparatus was ensured to be installed properly as in figure 1.
The apparatus was levelled using the adjustable feet facilitated by the spirit level attached.
The counter weight was adjusted to level the balance arm in a horizontal position.
The drain valve was ensured to be closed and water was added slowly into the tank until the
surface just touched the quadrant base, thus the datum level was established.
The reading of the datum level was recorded.
A 50g weight was placed on the balance pan and water was added slowly into the tank until
the balance arm is again horizontal.
The mass of weight, m and the depth of immersion, d was recorded in the experimental data
sheet.
Steps 6 and 7 was repeated with increasing weight until the tank was full of water.
The water was drained after the experiment was completed.

5.0 Results

pg. 12

Height of Quadrant, D = 0.1 m

Density = 1000 kg/m2

Width of Quadrant, B

= 0.075 m

Gravity = 9.81 m/s2

Length of Balance, L

= 0.3 m

Datum = 0.041 m

Quadrant of Pivot, H

= 0.2 m

Mass, m (kg)

d (m)
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45

pg. 13

Immersion
0.041
0.044
0.063
0.080
0.093
0.106
0.112
0.130
0.142
0.153

P
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F

Thrust, F (N)
0.7122
0.9565
2.2073
3.1637
4.1202
4.5617
5.8860
6.7689
7.5782

Experimental h" (m)

0.2066
0.3077
0.2000
0.1860
0.1786
0.1935
0.1750
0.1739
0.1748

Theoretical h" (m)

0.1853
0.2141
0.1778
0.1694
0.1649
0.1634
0.1604
0.1591
0.1581

Error, %
10.30
30.42
11.11
8.96
7.67
15.56
8.33
8.54
9.54

The graph of centre of pressure vs the depth of immersion

d vs h"
0.3500

centre of pressure, h" (m)

0.3000
0.2500
0.2000
0.1500
0.1000

y = -0.724x + 0.2738

0.0500
0.0000
0.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

depth of immesion, d (m)

pg. 14

0.140

0.160

0.180

6.0 Discussion

pg. 15

7.0 Conclusion

pg. 16

8.0 Reference

pg. 17

Reference
Books
1. Y.A. Cengel & J. M. Cimbala, 2006. Fluid mechanics: fundamental and applications. 1st
Ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
2. Uitm Fluid Mechanics lecture notes

Websites
1. http://www.jfccivilengineer.com/centre_of_pressure.html
2. http://atapaje.blogspot.com/2008/02/hydrostatic-force-on-plane-surface.html
3. http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/CIVE/FluidsLevel1/Unit02/T3.html

pg. 18