A basketball is pressurized to a gauge pressure of PG = 75 kPa when at the surface of a swimming pool. (Patm = 101 kPa). The ball is then submerged in the pool of water which has a density ρ = 1000 kg/m3. Assume the ball does not change in mass, temperature, or volume as it is submerged. a) Calculate the absolute pressure inside the basketball in kPa when it is at the surface. b) Solve the pressure equation for the depth (in meters) at which the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the ball will become zero. At this depth the pressure inside the basketball is the same as the pressure outside the ball. c) At what depth, in meters, would the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the ball be zero if the ball were submerged in mercury (ρ = 13,500 kg/m3) instead of in water?
Fluid Pressure
The term fluid pressure is coined as, the measurement of the force per unit area of a given surface of a closed container. It is a branch of physics that helps to study the properties of fluid under various conditions of force.
Gauge Pressure
Pressure is the physical force acting per unit area on a body; the applied force is perpendicular to the surface of the object per unit area. The air around us at sea level exerts a pressure (atmospheric pressure) of about 14.7 psi but this doesn’t seem to bother anyone as the bodily fluids are constantly pushing outwards with the same force but if one swims down into the ocean a few feet below the surface one can notice the difference, there is increased pressure on the eardrum, this is due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure.
A basketball is pressurized to a gauge pressure of PG = 75 kPa when at the surface of a swimming pool. (Patm = 101 kPa). The ball is then submerged in the pool of water which has a density ρ = 1000 kg/m3. Assume the ball does not change in mass, temperature, or volume as it is submerged.
a) Calculate the absolute pressure inside the basketball in kPa when it is at the surface.
b) Solve the pressure equation for the depth (in meters) at which the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the ball will become zero. At this depth the pressure inside the basketball is the same as the pressure outside the ball.
c) At what depth, in meters, would the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the ball be zero if the ball were submerged in mercury (ρ = 13,500 kg/m3) instead of in water?
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