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Vertical rectangle hydrostatics

Submerged-plane center of pressure

Inputs

Constant user-entered density; density variation and fluid-property lookup are excluded.
User-entered horizontal width of a fully submerged vertical rectangle.
User-entered vertical height of the fully submerged rectangular plane.
Vertical depth of the rectangle centroid below the free surface; orientation is fixed to vertical.

Results

Rectangle areaA

0.96

Hydrostatic resultant force

23.536

Rectangle centroidal second moment

0.0512

Center-of-pressure offset below centroid

0.021333

Center-of-pressure depth below free surface

2.5213

F = ρgycA; Ix = bh³/12; yCP = yc + Ix/(Ayc)

A first-pass number, not a code check, certification, or approval. Read the method and its limits below. What this is and is not.

Nearby: Hydrostatic pressure · Flow continuity · Pipe mean velocity · Bernoulli equation

Method

Formula, when it applies, and when it does not

Calculate hydrostatic resultant force and center-of-pressure depth for a fully submerged vertical rectangular plane from geometry and centroid depth.

F = ρgycA; Ix = bh³/12; yCP = yc + Ix/(Ayc)

When

  • Fully submerged vertical rectangle
  • Standard gravitational acceleration

Don’t

  • This is a fully submerged vertical rectangular-plane, constant-density hydrostatic arithmetic screen only. It does not analyze inclined or curved surfaces, variable density, free-surface motion, vessel or support structure, plate stress, fasteners, pressure rating, installation, safety, or approval.
Engineering LibreTexts hydrostatic pressure reference