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Hydraulic lift

Learning objectives

  • To understand the principle of the hydraulic press and how pressure acts in all directions.

Hydraulic lift principle.

Pressure is the force applied perpendicular to an object per unit area:  P= F / S . P is expressed in N/m2 or "pascal" (Pa).

The surface of the right piston is 5 times greater than the left one. The resulting force is 5 times larger.
Pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished to every portion of the fluid and the walls of the containing vessel (Pascal's law). Don't confuse the blue arrows (representing  individual forces on some portions of the walls (vectorial value) ) and pressure (scalar value).

Click on the 200 kg mass to start lifting.

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