In this lab, you'll investigate how the characteristics of a fluid affect fluid pressure.
Go to phet.colorado.edu. Choose "Physics" from the "Simulations" menu. Scroll down to "Fluid Pressure and Flow". Click "Browser compatible version". It will take several minutes to load.
1. Drag a pressure gauge to the middle of the screen. Then drag it vertically downward. Do not put it in the water. Why does the pressure increase as the gauge moves toward the bottom of the screen, even though it never enters the water?
2. Put the pressure gauge in the position shown.
Turn on the water. Why doesn't the pressure increase until the water reaches the gauge?
3. Why does the pressure increase as the water level rises above the gauge?
4. Click "Fluid density". What effect does change the fluid density have on the pressure shown on the gauge?
5. Why does changing the fluid density affect the pressure shown on the gauge?
6. Click on the middle icon--the one showing two connected chambers.
Put a pressure gauge at the bottom of each chamber. Put the gauges as low as you can and still get a pressure reading. Are the pressure the same, or different?
7. Explain why the gauges read what they read.
8. Click on the icon on the right.
Put a 250 kg mass on the small opening. What effect does that have on the fluid pressure? Explain why the pressure does what it does.
9. Now click the "Flow" tab.
XXXXXXXXXXWhat do the red dots represent?
10. Change the flow rate. What is the effect of changing the flow rate on the red dots?
11. Put a pressure gauge barely inside the pipe
How does changing the flow rate affect the pressure?
12. Use the simulation to determine how fluid pressure is related to fluid speed. State what you find out.
13. Click "Reset All". Use the "handles" to make the center section of the pipe na
ow. What effect does that have on the fluid speed?
14. Put two pressure gauges in the pipe:Â one before the na
ow section and one in the na
ow section. Put each gauge so that it is barely inside the pipe. Which one shows a higher pressure? Why?
15. How does the depth of an object in a fluid affect the fluid pressure on the object?
16. How does the density of a fluid affect the fluid pressure?
17. How are fluid pressure and fluid speed related?
18. How are the fluid speed and pressure affected when a fluid flows from a wide pipe into a na
ow pipe?