Chemical Engineering Tutorials: Force and Pressure

Sunday, 4 April 2021

Force and Pressure

Force

Force is defined using Newton’s second law of motion which states that the net force Fnet acting on a body of mass m, is proportional to the time rate of change of its momentum. If the mass is constant, the net force is proportional to the product of the mass of the body and its acceleration. Thus,

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where a = dv/dt is the acceleration of the body and K is a proportionality constant to be determined by the units used. In SI system, K = 1 and force has the units of newton, N, or kg.m/s2.

Pressure

The pressure, P, of a fluid on a surface is defined as the normal force exerted by the fluid per unit area of the surface, i.e.,

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Pressure has the units of Pa (N/m2) in SI units. Absolute pressure refers to the absolute value of the force per unit area exerted on the containing wall by a fluid. Gauge pressure is the difference between the absolute pressure and the local atmospheric pressure. Vacuum represents the amount by which the atmospheric pressure exceeds the absolute pressure. This can be shown schematically:

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From these definitions we can see that:

·      Absolute pressure cannot be negative.

· Vacuum cannot be greater than the local atmospheric pressure.

A system is said to be in mechanical equilibrium with its surroundings when there is no pressure difference between them, i.e.,

Psys = Psurr            Condition of mechanical equilibrium

Isobaric Process: This is a process that takes place at constant pressure. It is important to note that if the initial and final states are at the same pressure, this does not necessarily imply an isobaric process.

Example 1

Which of the following processes would you consider to be isobaric for analysis purposes?

a) A valve is opened in a tank of compressed air. (Non-isobaric process)

b) Heat is added to boiling water on the stove. (Isobaric Process)

c) Air is compressed in a compressor. (Non-isobaric process)

d) A tank of compressed air leaks air through a tiny pinhole leak. (Non-isobaric but if short time periods are involved, it may be considered isobaric)

e) The air in the cylinder with a frictionless piston held by a constant weight on it as heated. (Isobaric Process)

 

 

 

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