Pascal's Law

What is Pascal's Law?

A statement that pressure applied anywhere to a confined, incompressible fluid is transmitted equally and undiminished to every point within it. It's the working principle behind hydraulic jacks and brakes, where a small force on a small piston becomes a much larger force on a larger one.

The five clues

Engineerdle #13 described Pascal's Law with five clues, revealed one at a time from hardest to most direct. Each clue points at a different property of the concept.

1. 01It's the reason a small push can lift a car.
2. 02Pressure applied at one point in a confined fluid doesn't stay local.
3. 03It transmits equally in every direction, undiminished.
4. 04A hydraulic jack multiplies force using exactly this principle.
5. 05Pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted equally throughout the fluid in all directions.

More Fluid Mechanics concepts

• Venturi EffectPuzzle #50
• ViscosityPuzzle #46
• Reynolds NumberPuzzle #41
• Newtonian FluidPuzzle #36
• Non-Newtonian FluidPuzzle #31
• Archimedes' PrinciplePuzzle #8