AP Physics 2 : Pressure

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics 2

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Pressure

A glass is filled with water. The gauge pressure at the top of the glass is zero and the gauge pressure at the bottom is . A second glass with half the height and twice the diameter of the first glass is also filled with water. What is the gauge pressure at the bottom of the second glass?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Pressure  so the diameter changing does not matter but half the height changes the pressure of the second glass to .

Example Question #51 : Fluid Statics

Suppose that a barometer is filled with water, as shown in the diagram below. If this barometer's column has a height of , what would be the height of a barometer that used mercury instead of water?

Note: Mercury has a specific gravity of .

Vt physics barometer problem

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For this question, we're asked to see how the height of a barometer's column will change once the liquid changes from water to mercury.

Barometers are a measure of atmospheric pressure. As the ambient pressure pushes down on the surface of the liquid, this pressure is transmitted throughout the liquid, such that it causes the liquid level in the water to rise. As the ambient pressure increases, the column in the barometer climbs.

We'll need to use the equation for pressure as it relates to density and height.

Since the ambient pressure is the same in both instances, we can set these terms equal to each other. That is to say, it doesn't matter which liquid is being used in the column, because both of them will feel the same pressure from the atmosphere.

Next, we can rearrange the above expression to isolate the term for the height in the mercury column.

Finally, we can plug in the terms given to us in the question stem to arrive at our answer.

Example Question #21 : Pressure

Determine the pressure  below the surface of freshwater.

Possible Answers:

None of these

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Pressure is equal to force over area:

The force will be due to the gravity of the water above. The mass of the water will be the density times the volume.

The volume will be equal to the base area times the length

Combining equations

Plugging in values:

Example Question #51 : Fluid Statics

Consider a bucket 1m tall. The bucket is completely filled, with 0.5m of oil on the top and 0.5m of water below it. Write an expression for the pressure  at a point 10cm from the bottom of the bucket, in terms of  and atmospheric pressure 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Pressure in a static fluid varies along the axis in which gravity acts. In other words, the deeper one goes, the higher the pressure is. This can be expressed as:

, where h represents the depth. Since we are examining a point 0.1m from the bottom, this is a depth of 0.9m; 0.5 of which is through oil and 0.4 of which is through water. 

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