Water in the lake behind hoover dam is 221 m deep. part a what is the gauge water pressure at the base of the dam?

The gauge water pressure at the base of the dam is about 2.17 × 10⁶ Pa

Let's recall Hydrostatic Pressure formula as follows:

where:

P = hydrosatic pressure ( Pa )

ρ = density of  fluid ( kg/m³ )

g = gravitational acceleration ( m/s² )

h = height of a column of liquid ( m )

Let us now tackle the problem!

Given:

depth of the lake = h = 221 m

Asked:

gauge water pressure = P = ?

Solution:

We will use Hydrostatic Pressure formula above to calculate the gauge water pressure at the base of the dam as follows:

→ rounded to 3 significant figures

The gauge water pressure at the base of the dam is about 2.17 × 10⁶ Pa

Grade: High School

Subject: Physics

Chapter: Pressure

pe = weightxheight = 2000x1000=2,000,000joules

speed of light in vacuum is 300,000 km/s

speed of light in other mediums is given by the expression v = c/n, where c is the speed of light in vacuum and n is the refractive index of medium.

for the first medium v = 200,000 km/s

  so, refractive index of medium = 300000/200000 = 1.5

    1.5 refractive index is usually for glass. so first medium is glass.

for the second medium v = 250,00 km/s

so, refractive index of medium = 300000/250000 = 1.2

    1.2 refractive index is usually for water. so second medium is water.

for the third medium v = 0 km/s

so, refractive index of medium = 300000/0 = ∞

    ∞ refractive index is usually for opaque mediums. so third medium is opaque medium.