ABSTRACT
This chapter describes fluid pressure, together with buoyancy and hydrostatic stability. The chapter also defines Archimedes’ principle, which is used to determine the buoyancy of boats, yachts, ships, etc. The chapter also describes metacentric height, which is used to determine the hydrostatic stability of the aforementioned vessels, and the explanation of this topic is aided with a number of simple worked examples. The chapters also describe gauges used in fluid mechanics, such as barometers, manometers, and the Bourdon pressure and vacuum gauges. These gauges are used to determine the properties and behaviour of fluids when they are met in practice. Calculations are given of simple floating structures and reference is made to the mid-ordinate rule, described earlier in Chapter 15, which can be used for determining the areas and volumes of complex shapes, such as those often met in naval architecture and civil engineering and many other branches of engineering.
