Figure 1-4.
Transmission of Force Through
Confined Liquids.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FLUIDS
The vast difference in the manner in which force is transmitted
through confined liquids, as compared with solid bodies, is due to
the physical characteristics of fluids -- namely, shape and
compressibility.
Liquids have no definite shape; they readily and
instantly conform to the form of the container.
Because of this
characteristic the entire body of confined fluid tends to move away
from the point of the initial force in all directions until stopped
by something solid such as the walls of the container.
Liquids are
relatively incompressible.
That is, they can only be compressed by
approximately 1 percent of their volume. Because liquids lack their
own shape and are incompressible, an applied force transmitted
through a body of liquid confined in a rigid container results in no
more compression than if it were transmitted through solid metal.
10
AL0907
Previous Page
