Two vertical cylinders are connected by a horizontal tube and filled with water

PHYSICS · Multi-part · AP · Physics 1: Algebra-based · Fluids · Fluids

Problem

Two vertical cylinders are connected by a horizontal tube and filled with water. The small piston (area

4\,\text{cm}^2

) lies at the base level, while the large piston (area

0.08\,\text{m}^2

) is

0.60\,\text{m}

higher and carries an additional

0.15\,\text{m}

column of oil (density

800\,\text{kg m}^{-3}

) above the water. The large piston supports a load of

12\,000\,\text{N}

. (i) Derive an expression for the input force

F_1

required on the small piston in terms of the given quantities. (ii) Hence, calculate the numerical value of

F_1

. (Use

g = 9.8\,\text{m s}^{-2}

and

\rho_{\text{water}} = 1000\,\text{kg m}^{-3}