Principle
The hydraulic press depends on Pascal's principle: the pressure throughout a closed system is constant. One part of the system is a piston acting as a pump, with a modest mechanical force acting on a small cross-sectional area; the other part is a piston with a larger area which generates a correspondingly large mechanical force. Only small-diameter tubing (which more easily resists pressure) is needed if the pump is separated from the press cylinder.
Pascal's law: Pressure on a confined fluid is transmitted undiminished and acts with equal force on equal areas and at 90 degrees to the container wall.
A fluid, such as oil, is displaced when either piston is pushed inward. The small piston, for a given distance of movement, displaces a smaller amount of volume than the large piston, which is proportional to the ratio of areas of the heads of the pistons. Therefore, the small piston must be moved a large distance to get the large piston to move significantly. The distance the large piston will move is the distance that the small piston is moved divided by the ratio of the areas of the heads of the pistons. This is how energy, in the form of work in this case, is conserved and the Law of Conservation of Energy is satisfied. Work is force times distance, and since the force is increased on the larger piston, the distance the force is applied over must be decreased.
Read more about this topic: Hydraulic Press
Famous quotes containing the word principle:
“If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“There is a good principle which created order, light, and man, and an evil principle which created chaos, darkness, and woman.”
—Pythagoras (c. 572–497 B.C.)
“Thus it seemed that this one hillside illustrated the principle of all the operations of Nature. The Maker of this earth but patented a leaf. What Champollion will decipher this hieroglyphic for us, that we may turn over a new leaf at last?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)