Anew gel is being developed to use inside padding and helmets to cushion the body from impacts. the gel is stored in a 4.1 m^3 cylindrical tank with a diameter of 2 m. the tank is pressurized to 1.3 atm of surface pressure to prevent evaporation. a total pressure probe located at the bottom of the tank reads 60 ft of water. what is the specific gravity of the gel contained in the tank?

Explanation:

First, we have to calculate the gel's column height using the cylinder's volume, as follows:

Then, as the pressure given at the bottom of the tank is the sum of the surface pressure and the gel's column pressure, we need to calculate only the gel's column pressure:

ft of water is a unit of pressure, but we need to convert it to atm and then to Pa, in order to calculate our results in the correct units. Therefore, the conversion factor is:

1 ft of water (4°C) = 0.0295 atm

Now, to calculate the specific gravity, we need to find first the gel's density:

The specific gravity of the gel is 3.75.

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