HYDRAULICS

Read the following problems and answer the questions, choosing the best answer among the choices provided.
Shade the letter of your choice on the answer sheet provided. Strictly no erasures.
PROBLEMS:
1. A pressure gage at elevation 18’ on a side of an industrial tank containing a certain liquid reads 11.4 psi,
Another gage at elevation 12’ reads 13.7 psi, Compute the density of the liquid.
a. 1.63 slug/ft3 b. 1.37 slug/ft3 c. 1.71 slug/ft3 d. 1.25 slug/ft3
2. A 1-ft-diameter, 2-ft-long cylinder floats in an open tank containing a liquid having a specific weight . A U-
tube manometer is connected to the tank as shown in the figure below. When the pressure in pipe A is 0.1 psi
below atmospheric pressure, the various fluid levels are as shown. What is the specific weight of the
liquid in the tank?
a. 88.80 psf b. 62.67 psf c. 80.57 psf d. 67.14 psf
3. Determine the weight of the cylinder. Note that the top of the cylinder is flushed with the fluid surface.
a. 127 lbs b. 140 lbs c. 99 lbs d. 106 lbs

1’ h
water
cylinder
2’ gate
D
S = 1.5 o
60
Specific weight, 
0.5’
Fig.4.
Fig. 2 & 3

4. Find the magnitude of the force exerted by water on the circular gate shown below if h = 5’ and D =
4’
a. 5280 lbs b. 6351 lbs c. 3517 lbs d. 4376 lbs
Fig. 7 & 8. Top tie

Brace

D 10 m Form
F 1.8 m
Concrete
9 ft
30˚
1.2 m

Fig. 6. Bottom tie

Fig.5.

5. Determine the force required to hold the cone in the position shown above. Assume the cone has negligible
weight. The reservoir contains oil of relative density 0.8.
a. 6.63 kN b. 3.17 kN c. 5.25 kN d. 4.71 kN
6. What diameter D of clean glass tubing (see figure above) is required to get a rise of water at 20 oC ( = 1000
kg/m3,  = 0.0728 N/m) due to capillary action of 10 m?
a. 2 m b. 4 m c. 5 m d. 3 m
7. A concrete wall is to be constructed in site. Forms are erected to hold the wet concrete in place as shown in
the figure. Assume that wet concrete (γ = 150 pcf) behaves as a liquid. If the forms are held in place with ties
between vertical braces spaced every 2 ft, what force is exerted on the bottom tie?
a. 6 075 lb b. 8 100 lb c. 4 050 lb d. 2 025 lb
8. What is the force exerted on the top tie?
a. 6 075 lb b. 8 100 lb c. 4 050 lb d. 2 025 lb
9. A rock weighs 918 N in air and 609 N in water. What is its specific gravity?
a. 1.51 b. 1.88 c. 2.97 d. 1.98

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Situation A: In the figure, atmospheric pressure is 14.8 psia. The gage reading at A is 3.7 psi. The vapor
pressure of alcohol is 1.4 psia while that of mercury is negligible.
Alcohol vapor

A
x
Air + vapor

Alcohol
S=0.9 y

45”

Hg

10. What is the absolute pressure at A?

a. 18.5 psia b. 19.9 psia c. 17.1 psia d. 16.8 psia
11. Compute x.
a. 54.81’ b. 36.12’ c. 50.35’ d. 43.85’
12. Compute y.
a. 3.78’ b. 4.12’ c. 5.48’ d. 2.81’
Situation B: The sketch below illustrates the principle of a hydraulic jack carrying a weight of W = 10 kN.

6 cm
3 cm
diameter F
45 cm

Oil, S = 0.8 2 cm diameter

13. With the dimensions shown in the sketch determine the pressure at the left piston. Neglect weight of piston, oil
and handle assembly.
a. 2,821.91 kPa b. 3,536.78 kPa c. 5,092.96 Kp d. 7,957.75 kPa
14. Determine the force acting on the right piston..
a. 0.89 kN b. 1.60 kN c. 2.50 kN d. 1.11 kN
15. Calculate the force F that must be applied at the handle in order to support the weight W.
a. 69.4 N b. 55.6 N c. 156.2 N d. 106.7 N
Situation C: A structure of length 4 m and height 2 m is cantilevered into a still body of water as shown in the
figure below. The entire interior of the structure is filled with trapped air, a = 1.2 kg/m3 (ends are
closed off) and the free surface of the water is located a distance of 0.5 m below the “lid” of the
structure.

4m
A B
0.5 m
Trapped air
2m h
Water
C

16. Determine the pressure of the trapped air.

a. 14.715 kPa b. 19.620 kPa c. 23.544 kPa d. 11.772 kPa
17. Determine the total force on the vertical side of the structure, BC.
a. 29.4 kN/m b. 18.4 kN/m c. 19.6 kN/m d. 12.5 kN/m

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18. Determine the total force on the horizontal lid of the structure, AB.
a. 78.4 kN/m b. 94.2 kN/m c. 47.1 kN/m d. 58.8 kN/m
Situation D: The sketch above shows a plane gate that backs up water in a 10-m wide rectangular channel to a
depth of 3 m. The gate itself is inclined at an angle of 37 o to the horizontal and is supported by a
shaft, S, spanning the width of the channel. The total weight of the gate is W g and is assumed to act
through the mid-point of the submerged portion of the gate.

Air 6m
S

Air
3m Water 3m

37o

19. Determine the horizontal hydrostatic force acting on the gate.

a. 265 kN b. 352 kN c. 441 kN d. 332 kN
20. Determine the vertical hydrostatic force acting on the gate.
a. 470 kN b. 586 kN c. 672 kN d. 633 kN
21. Determine the necessary weight of the gate, Wg, for the gate to remain closed.
a. 145 kN b. 269 kN c. 463 kN d. 359 kN
Situation E: You work in the quality control division for an engineering consulting firm. Your company has been
hired to design a concrete dam to aid in the creation of a new reservoir. A junior consultant has
submitted the final plans for the dam (see figure below). Your job is to check to make sure that the
dam is properly designed and will not topple over about its pivot point A (it is assumed that the dam
will not slide). In order to do this, you need to figure out at what water depth (h) the dam will topple
over. You are given the following data: The depth of the river downstream of the dam is 10 m and is
kept constant, the density of the concrete is 2300 kg/m3, the height of the dam is 30 m, the base of
the dam is 15 m long, the dam and the reservoir are 100 m wide (into the page), and water cannot
leak under the base of the dam.

h 30 m

10 m
A
15 m

22. What magnitude of moment will the tail water create about the pivot point A?
a. 386,125 kN-m b. 306,563 kN-m c. 204,375 kN-m d. 157,263 kN-m
23. At what water depth h will the dam topple over about its pivot point A?
a. 28.90 m b. 29.75 m c. 32.60 m d. 31.85 m
24. At maximum water depth equal to the height of the dam, what is the factor of safety against
overturning?
a. 1.376 b. 1.635 c. 1.196 d. 0.987

Situation F: A cylindrical container 1 m in diameter and 2.5 m high weighs 3.5 kN.
25. What volume of lead (γ = 110 kN/m3) must be attached at the outside bottom of the container such that it will
float vertically in fresh water to a depth of 2 m?
a. 0.108 m3 b. 0.137 m3 c. 0.119 m3 d. 0.124 m3
26. If the added lead will be placed inside the container, to what depth will the container be submerged in fresh
water?
a. 2.15 m b. 2.20 m c. 2.10 m d. 2.25 m
27. What additional weight must be placed inside the cylinder to make the top of the container flush with the water
surface?

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a. 1.86 kN b. 1.17 kN c. 2.67 kN d. 3.35 kN

Situation G: A gate with circular cross-section is held closed by a lever 1 m long attached to a buoyant cylinder.
The cylinder is 25 cm in diameter and weighs 200 N. The gate is attached to a horizontal shaft so it can pivot
about its center. The liquid is water. The chain and lever attached to the gate have negligible weight.
Buoyant
cylinder

10 m
y

1m
1m

pivot

28. Calculate the hydrostatic force acting on the circular gate.

a. 98.1 kN b. 77.05 kN c. 109.23 kN d. 115.02 kN e.
29. Calculate the tensile force on the chain when the gate is just on the verge of opening..
a. 481.56 N b. 404.51 N c. 521.32 N d. 508.67 N
30. Find the required length of the chain.
a. 8.59 m b. 9.20 m c. 7.32 m d. 6.78 m