Category:Hydrostatic

Hy`dro*stat"ic, Hy`dro*stat"ic*al, a. Etym: [Hydro-, 1 + Gr. hydrostatique. See Static.]

Defn: Of or relating to hydrostatics; pertaining to, or in accordance with, the principles of the equilibrium of fluids. The first discovery made in hydrostatics since the time of Archimedes is due to Stevinus. Hallam. Hydrostatic balance, a balance for weighing substances in water, for the purpose of ascertaining their specific gravities. -- Hydrostatic bed, a water bed. -- Hydrostatic bellows, an apparatus consisting of a water-tight bellowslike case with a long, upright tube, into which water may be poured to illustrate the hydrostatic paradox. -- Hydrostatic paradox, the proposition in hydrostatics that any quantity of water, however small, may be made to counterbalance any weight, however great; or the law of the equality of pressure of fluids in all directions. -- Hydrostatic press, a machine in which great force, with slow motion, is communicated to a large plunger by means of water forced into the cylinder in which it moves, by a forcing pump of small diameter, to which the power is applied, the principle involved being the same as in the hydrostatic bellows. Also called hydraulic press, and Bramah press. In the illustration, a is a pump with a small plunger b, which forces the water into the cylinder c, thus driving upward the large plunder d, which performs the reduced work, such as compressing cotton bales, etc.