HYDROSTATICEQUILIBRIUM

Hydrostatic equilibrium

In continuum mechanics, a fluid is said to be in hydrostatic equilibrium or hydrostatic balance when it is at rest, or when the flow velocity at each point is constant over time. This occurs when external forces such as gravity are balanced by a pressure gradient force. For instance, the pressure gradient force prevents gravity from collapsing the Earth's atmosphere into a thin, dense shell, while gravity prevents the pressure gradient force from diffusing the atmosphere into space.

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hydrostatic equilibrium

Noun

  1. The state in which a solid or liquid body has relaxed into the shape that it would have if it were a calm (equilibrium) liquid. Mathematically, this means a sphere if it is not distorted by another body and is not rotating, but an oblate or scalene ellipsoid if rotating moderately, and piriform if rotating beyond the ellipsoidal limit. When in contact with another object, such as oil drops on or in water, other shapes occur.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: hydrostatic equilibrium
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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