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University of Colima.
Faculty of Chemical Sciences.
Metallurgical Chemical Engineer.

Practice #1
Construction of a u-tube pressure gauge and determination of the pressure
of a fluid column.

Student Names:
Miguel Ángel Morales Estrada.
Génesis Ramírez Ortiz.
Renata Isabella Sevilla González.
Miriam Montserrat Pérez Michel.
Lizeth Esmeralda Gonzalez Moreno.

School Subject:
Fluid Mechanics.

Tutor’s Name:
María Magdalena Rodríguez Campos.

October 24, 2022.

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Abstract

Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics within mechanics that studies the movement of
fluids, as well as the forces that cause it.
The fundamental characteristic that defines fluids is their inability to resist sudden efforts.
Static pressure is the pressure indicated by a measuring device that moves with the fluid or
a measuring device that does not introduce velocity changes in the fluid.
The usual method of measuring static pressure in a fluid is to make a small hole normal to
the surface and connect the pipe to a pressure gauge.In regions of the fluid away from the
wall, the static pressure can be read by inserting a probe, which in effect creates a
corresponding wall effect.
The total pressure is the pressure measured by bringing the fluid to rest isoanthropically.
The device for measuring total pressure is the Pitot tube, a probe with a hole at the end
facing the stream.
The force exerted by a fluid in equilibrium on a submerged body at any point is perpendicular
to the surface of the body.
Pressure is a scalar magnitude and is a characteristic of the point of the fluid in equilibrium,
which will depend only on its coordinates.
Mechanics is a physical model that serves to describe the movement of bodies in space and
relate them to their efficient causes.

Keywords: Static pressure,Fluid mechanics, Pitot tube, Pressure tube, Pressure gauge.
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Introduction

The manometer is an instrument used to measure the point pressure of a gas or liquid
enclosed in a container, or flowing through a closed pipe or channel.
Pressure gauges are widely used in industry and in everyday life, to check the pressure of
compressed gases or gases stored in tanks.

They are usually made of U-shaped glass tubes and have a liquid inside, which, when
pushed by the pressure of the gas or fluid to be measured, creates a height difference, which
shows the pressure of the gas we are analyzing.
In this practice we will see how to make a homemade pressure gauge with everyday and
easy to obtain materials.

The pressure gauges reliably and safely indicate the current process pressure without
auxiliary power. In addition, pressure gauges are much cheaper than mechatronic or
electronic versions.
The objective of this work is the experimental study of the operation of a manometer, using
the fundamental equation of hydrostatics, to calculate the pressure in a fluid with the use of
an open-type homemade manometer.

The pressure exerted on a static fluid depends only on the depth of the fluid, the density of
the fluid, and the acceleration due to gravity.

Pressure is a measure of the force per unit area acting on the boundary of a material.
In fluid dynamics, many authors use the term static pressure instead of just pressure to avoid
confusion. The static pressure term is the same as the pressure term and can be identified
for each point in the fluid flow field. (Maliska, 2023)
Static pressure is one of the terms in Bernoulli's equation:
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The Bernoulli effect causes a drop in fluid pressure in areas with increasing flow velocity.
This reduction in pressure by narrowing the flow path may seem counterintuitive, but it
appears less pronounced when pressure is considered as energy density.
For high velocity flow through a constriction, the kinetic energy must increase at the expense
of pressure energy. (Solorzano,2022)
The pressure in a fluid at rest is independent of the orientation of the surface on which it
acts. When a body is immersed in a fluid, the fluid exerts a force perpendicular to the surface
of the body at every point on the surface.
This force F per unit area S is called the pressure p of the fluid:

To determine the pressure, we use a manometer. Both A and B sit at the same height.
As such, figuring out the pressure of A and B requires finding their equal pressure. Due to
the high pressure at A, its higher elevation causes an increase in atmospheric pressure.
Also, the pressure of the trapped gas contributes to the high pressure A. Conversely, B
under high pressure is caused by the trapped gas and the lower altitude.

According to pascal's principle (1653) if a fluid is in equilibrium, each of its parts will also be
in equilibrium. The pressure difference, dp, between two points in a fluid separated by a
height dy, in the gravitational field, is given by the equation:
dp = -rgdy
In an incompressible fluid (density, r = constant) the pressure varies with the vertical position
of the form:
p = p0 + rgh. where,
h: is the height difference between the points where the pressure is p and p0.
This is the fundamental equation of fluid statics.
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Materials

• Homemade U-tube manometer.

illustration 1.0. materials.

• Thermometer.

illustration 2.0. materials.

• Container or bucket.

illustration 3.0. materials.

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Methods

1. Build a U-tube manometer similar to the one illustrated in figure 1 (The

following link shows a video with the operation of the homemade
manometer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01- aJts0nHI.)

2. Fill the bucket with water up to the mark.

3. Measure the pressure by the height of the liquid contained in the manometer
at the set depth.

4. Measure the temperature of the fluid contained in the manometer.

Observations

The part of the funnel with the balloon is submerged inside a bucket with water and it is
observed that the column of water inside the hose begins to vary, the variation from the zero
level is measured and the fundamental equation of hydrostatics (pgh) to calculate the
pressure in the fluid.

illustration 4.0.Observations.
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Results and Calculations

A variation in height of 5.4 centimeters was observed, making use of the fundamental
equation of Hydrostatics, using p = 1000 Kg/m3 for water and an approximate gravity of 9.78
m/s2, P=pgh; and so it was obtained

P= (1000 Kg/m3) (9.78 m/s2) (0.054 m) = 528.12 Pa

The first thing that was observed was the validity of the fundamental equation of
Hydrostatics, which allows us to obtain a result very close to what would be obtained using
a commercial pressure gauge, it was also observed that pressure gauges are of great help
and great importance in industries where there are fluids inside conduits or in containers, in
addition to the use of a larger surface to perform this measurement (that is, the use of a
funnel with a larger surface in the mouth), which would give us greater sensitivity to our
instrument and therefore greater precision.

Discussion

We see that the purpose of the manometer is to measure the pressure of liquids, which can
be measured in single tube manometers or U-shaped manometers. It should be noted that
single tube manometers are used exclusively to measure liquids and do not work for gases.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we managed to build a homemade U-tube manometer for measuring the

pressure of a column of fluid. The pressure was indicated on the U-shaped manometer by
displacing a liquid. To do this, it was filled halfway with water. When a differential pressure
is created between both sides of the U, then the liquid column moved to the side with
lower pressure; We calculate the pressure of the manometer and the height of the water
tank.
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References

Solorzano, J. V., Díaz, F. G. R. & Rojas, J. M. (2022). Flow Machines: An introduction to

fluid machines. Our Knowledge Publishing.

Maliska, C. R. (2023). Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Finite Volume

Method: 135 (2023 ed.). Springer.

Girin, O. (2022). Dynamics of Compressible Fluids: A Textbook (2022 ed.). Springer.

Appendix

illustration 1.0. materials…..………………………………………………………………………5

illustration 2.0. materials….……………………………………………………………………….5

illustration 3.0. materials…………………………………………………………………………..5

illustration 4.0.Observations……………………………………………………………………….6