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Do liquids and gases also exert pressure? Do they also depend on the area on which the force acts?
Like solids, liquids and gases also exert pressure. Liquids and gases exert pressure on the walls of the container in which it is kept.
Let us look at an example.
Take two glass tubes. The base of the tube is fitted with a rubber balloon. When water is poured into the tube, the balloon starts to bulge. It is due to the pressure that acts on the walls of the balloon. When we pour more water, the balloon bulges further. This indicates that the pressure varies with height. More the height of the liquid, more will be the pressure.
A liquid exerts pressure on the walls of the container. To understand this, let us look at the following activity.
- Make a hole at the side of a plastic bottle.
- Fit a glass tube perfectly in the small hole, so there will be no water leak.
- Fit a balloon at the end of a glass tube.
- When water is poured on the glass tube, the balloon expands.
This indicates that the pressure also acts on the walls of the container.
Liquids exert equal pressure at the same depth. To understand this, let us look at the following activity.
- Take a water bottle and make a hole at equal depth from the top of the bottle.
- Fill the bottle with water and note down the pressure.
- All the liquids exert the same pressure as shown in the below figure.
This indicates that the liquids exert equal pressure at the same depth.
If the hole is made at different depths, the pressure will vary, resulting in unequal water flow.
In the above figure, the flow of water is uneven. It shows the pressure depends on the height. The pressure will be more at the depth and less at the top.
Some interesting facts:
Scuba diver
Deep-sea divers use certain specially designed suits to protect themselves from high pressure. If a person has dived to a depth of 100 m, without proper suits, to survive, he must spend some time in a decompression chamber.
Reference:
https://pxhere.com/en/photo/839793
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