ABSTRACT

Fluid statics is that branch of mechanics of fluids that deals primarily with fluids at rest. Problems in fluid statics are much simpler than those associated with the motion of fluids, and exact analytical solutions are possible. This chapter examines the variation of pressure throughout an expanse of fluid. In practice, pressure is always measured by the determination of a pressure difference. Most of the properties of a gas are functions of its absolute pressure and consequently values of the absolute pressure are usually required in problems concerning gases. Fluid statics may be extended to cover instances in which elements of the fluid do not move relative to one another even though the fluid as a whole may be moving. In the aneroid barometer, a metal bellows containing a near-perfect vacuum is expanded or contracted according to variations in the pressure of the atmosphere outside it.