The discussion focuses on calculating the depth in a freshwater lake where the water pressure reaches 4.5 atm. The equation used is P = a + hgp, where h is the depth, P is the total pressure, a is the atmospheric pressure, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and p is the density of water. The correct calculation shows that the depth h can be derived as h = (4.5 x 10^5 - 1 x 10^5) / (9.8 x 1000), resulting in a depth of approximately 35.71 meters. The importance of converting all pressures to pascals and ensuring the density of freshwater is in kg/m³ is emphasized to avoid unit errors.
PREREQUISITESStudents in physics or engineering courses, educators teaching fluid mechanics, and anyone interested in understanding pressure dynamics in fluids.
Gear300 said:Convert everything to pascals before using the equations. Also, be sure that the density you have for freshwater is in kg/m3. I'm not seeing anything wrong in your method, so I'm assuming the problem is in the units.