14.2 Measuring pressure

In the preceding section, we derived a formula for calculating the variation in pressure for a fluid in hydrostatic equilibrium. As it turns out, this is a very useful calculation. Measurements of pressure are important in daily life as well as in science and engineering applications. In this section, we discuss different ways that pressure can be reported and measured.

Gauge pressure vs. absolute pressure

Suppose the pressure gauge on a full scuba tank reads 3000 psi, which is approximately 207 atmospheres. When the valve is opened, air begins to escape because the pressure inside the tank is greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the tank. Air continues to escape from the tank until the pressure inside the tank equals the pressure of the atmosphere outside the tank. At this point, the pressure gauge on the tank reads zero, even though the pressure inside the tank is actually 1 atmosphere—the same as the air pressure outside the tank.

Most pressure gauges, like the one on the scuba tank, are calibrated to read zero at atmospheric pressure. Pressure readings from such gauges are called gauge pressure    , which is the pressure relative to the atmospheric pressure. When the pressure inside the tank is greater than atmospheric pressure, the gauge reports a positive value.

Some gauges are designed to measure negative pressure. For example, many physics experiments must take place in a vacuum chamber, a rigid chamber from which some of the air is pumped out. The pressure inside the vacuum chamber is less than atmospheric pressure, so the pressure gauge on the chamber reads a negative value.

Unlike gauge pressure, absolute pressure    accounts for atmospheric pressure , which in effect adds to the pressure in any fluid not enclosed in a rigid container.

For example, if a tire gauge reads 34 psi, then the absolute pressure is 34 psi plus 14.7 psi ( $p_{\text{atm}}$ in psi), or 48.7 psi (equivalent to 336 kPa).

In most cases, the absolute pressure in fluids cannot be negative. Fluids push rather than pull, so the smallest absolute pressure in a fluid is zero (a negative absolute pressure is a pull). Thus, the smallest possible gauge pressure is $p_{\text{g}}=\text{−}{p}_{\text{atm}}$ (which makes $p_{\text{abs}}$ zero). There is no theoretical limit to how large a gauge pressure can be.

Measuring pressure

A host of devices are used for measuring pressure, ranging from tire gauges to blood pressure monitors. Many other types of pressure gauges are commonly used to test the pressure of fluids, such as mechanical pressure gauges. We will explore some of these in this section.

Any property that changes with pressure in a known way can be used to construct a pressure gauge. Some of the most common types include strain gauges, which use the change in the shape of a material with pressure; capacitance pressure gauges, which use the change in electric capacitance due to shape change with pressure; piezoelectric pressure gauges, which generate a voltage difference across a piezoelectric material under a pressure difference between the two sides; and ion gauges, which measure pressure by ionizing molecules in highly evacuated chambers. Different pressure gauges are useful in different pressure ranges and under different physical situations. Some examples are shown in [link] .