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Difficulty: EasyHydrostatic Pressure

A municipal water tower supplies fresh water to a nearby town. Assuming the water is not flowing, which of the following factors primarily determines the hydrostatic pressure of the water at a ground-level faucet in a house?

  1. The vertical distance from the faucet to the top of the water level in the towerAnswer
  2. B
    The total mass of the water currently stored inside the tower
  3. C
    The total volume of water the storage tank is designed to hold
  4. D
    The diameter of the main pipe connecting the tower to the house

Answer

The vertical distance from the faucet to the top of the water level in the tower.
According to the principles of fluid mechanics, hydrostatic pressure is determined solely by the fluid's density, gravity, and the vertical depth of the fluid column. Because density and gravity are constant in this scenario, the vertical distance from the water's surface to the faucet is the only factor that dictates the pressure. The total amount of water or the width of the pipes does not change this static pressure.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Recall the formula for hydrostatic pressure.
P=ρ⋅g⋅hP = \rho \cdot g \cdot h
This fundamental equation identifies the variables that affect pressure in a static fluid.
2
Analyze the variables in the context of the water tower.
The density of water (ρ\rho) and the acceleration due to gravity (gg) remain constant.
Since ρ\rho and gg are fixed, the pressure depends entirely on the remaining variable, hh.
3
Identify what hh represents in this physical scenario.
The variable hh represents the vertical height or depth from the fluid's surface down to the measurement point (the faucet).
Hydrostatic pressure is based solely on vertical depth, making the vertical distance from the water level to the faucet the determining factor.

Key Concept

Hydrostatic Pressure Dependency on Depth
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Topics

Hydrostatic Pressure

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