Total Pressure

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.

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