The area of the top side of a piece of sheet metal is 9 square feet. The sheet metal is submerged horizontally in 8 feet of water. Find the fluid force on the top side. Round your answer to one decimal place.
A) 4,492.8 lb
B) 4,420.8 lb
C) 4,348.8 lb
D) 4,622.4 lb
E) 4,838.4 lb

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fluid force on a submerged surface is given by the formula $F = \rho g h A$, where $\rho$ is the density of the fluid (in this case, water, which is approximately 62.4 lb/ft$^3$), $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity (which is generally taken as 32.2 ft/s$^2$ but is not needed here since the density already accounts for gravity), $h$ is the depth of the fluid, and $A$ is the area of the surface. Given that the depth $h = 8$ feet and the area $A = 9$ square feet, the fluid force $F$ can be calculated as follows:$$F = 62.4 \, \text{lb/ft}^3 \times 8 \, \text{ft} \times 9 \, \text{ft}^2 = 4,492.8 \, \text{lb}.$$Therefore, the fluid force on the top side of the sheet metal is 4,492.8 lb.

The Area of the Top Side of a Piece of Sheet