In physics, the term total pressure may indicate two different quantities, both having the dimensions of a pressure:
- In fluid dynamics, total pressure refers to the sum of static pressure p, dynamic pressure q, and gravitational head, as expressed by Bernoulli's principle:
- where ρ is the density of the fluid, g is the local acceleration due to gravity, and z is the height above a datum.
- If the variation in height above the datum is zero, or so small it can be ignored, the above equation reduces to the following simplified form:
- In a mixture of ideal gases, total pressure refers to the sum of each gas' partial pressure.
Famous quotes containing the words total and/or pressure:
“... one of the blind spots of most Negroes is their failure to realize that small overtures from whites have a large significance ... I now realize that this feeling inevitably takes possession of one in the bitter struggle for equality. Indeed, I share it. Yet I wonder how we can expect total acceptance to step full grown from the womb of prejudice, with no embryo or infancy or childhood stages.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 10 (1962)
“Osteopath—One who argues that all human ills are caused by the pressure of hard bone upon soft tissue. The proof of his theory is to be found in the heads of those who believe it.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)