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PhysicsMediumClass 11

Pressure in Fluids — Pascal's law, hydraulic press

Properties of Matter

14

JEE Qs

8%

Hard

60

min

Thoroughly understand that Pascal's law implies equal pressure transmission, and apply P=F/A consistently across input and output sides of a hydraulic system, considering conservation of energy/work.

🧮 Key Formulas

P = F/A
F_out / A_out = F_in / A_in
Work_in = Work_out => F_in * d_in = F_out * d_out
V_in = V_out => A_in * d_in = A_out * d_out

✅ Key Points for JEE

  • 1Pascal's Law states that pressure applied to an enclosed incompressible fluid is transmitted undiminished to every portion of the fluid and the walls of the containing vessel.
  • 2Hydraulic systems (like a hydraulic press) leverage Pascal's law to multiply force: a small force applied over a small area generates a much larger force over a larger area.
  • 3The pressure exerted by a fluid always acts perpendicular to any surface in contact with it.
  • 4In an ideal hydraulic system, the work done by the input force is equal to the work done on the output piston, reflecting the conservation of energy.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

  • Confusing force and pressure, or using radius instead of area in calculations (A = πr² or A = side²).
  • Ignoring the conservation of volume displaced (A_in * d_in = A_out * d_out), leading to errors when analyzing piston displacement.
  • Forgetting to account for hydrostatic pressure (ρgh) when the input and output pistons are at different vertical heights in the fluid.

📝 Practice Questions

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Q47.Two soap bubbles of radius 2 cm and 4 cm , respectively, are in contact with each other. The radius of curvature of the common surface, in cm , is ______ . and

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Q27.A small rigid spherical ball of mass M is dropped in a long vertical tube containing glycerine. The velocity of the ball becomes constant after some time. If the density of glycerine is half of the density of the ball, then the viscous force acting on the ball will be (consider g as acceleration due to gravity) (1) 2 Mg (2) Mg (3) 3 2 Mg (4) Mg2

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Q41. A tube of length L is shown in the figure. The radius of cross section at the point (1) is 2 cm and at the point (2) is 1 cm , respectively. If the velocity of water entering at point (1) is 2 m/s, then velocity of water leaving the point (2) will be (1) 4 m/s (2) 2 m/s (3) 6 m/s (4) 8 m/s

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Q30.A massless spring gets elongated by amount x1 under a tension of 5 N . Its elongation is x2 under the tension of 7 N . For the elongation of (5x1 −2x2), the tension in the spring will be, (1) 39 N (2) 15 N (3) 11 N (4) 20 N

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Q32.Water flows in a horizontal pipe whose one end is closed with a valve. The reading of the pressure gauge attached to the pipe is P1 . The reading of the pressure gauge falls to P2 when the valve is opened. The speed of water flowing in the pipe is proportional to (1) P1 −P2 (2) (P1 −P2)4 (3) (P1 −P2)2 (4) √P1 −P2

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Q48.An air bubble of radius 1.0 mm is observed at a depth of 20 cm below the free surface of a liquid having surface tension 0.095 J/m2 and density 103 kg/m3 . The difference between pressure inside the bubble and atmospheric pressure is _____ N/m2 . (Take g = 10 m/s2 )

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NCERT Chapters

  • Class 11 Physics Ch 10: Mechanical Properties of Fluids