MadSci Network: Engineering
Query:

Re: What is the water pressure from a header tank?

Date: Sat Jun 16 15:40:06 2001
Posted By: George Adams, , Chemical Engineering graduate, none
Area of science: Engineering
ID: 989957384.Eg
Message:

The pressure exerted by a fluid  in a container depends on the density 
of the fluid and the vertical distance between the top of the fluid and 
the point the pressure is measured.  The pressure can be calculated as:

pressure = (elevation of top of fluid - elevation at point of pressure 
measurement) x fluid density

in your problem if the tank was full, the pressure at the tap would be:

pressure = (460 cm + 40 cm) x 1.0 gms/cm3 = 500 gms/cm2
   (the density of water is 1.0 gms/cm3)

if the tank were nearly empty the pressure at the tap would be 460 gms/cm2

The size and shape of the tank and of the pipe connecting the tank with 
the tap will not affect the pressure at the tap.  

This may not seem logical at first, but you could easily come up with an 
experiment to prove it.




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