Quote:
Originally Posted by unclebilly
How does the V shape work better than a U shape for a dam? I thought is was all down to hydrostatic pressure.
P=densityxgravityxdepth
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Yep, but...
Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
Just a WAG but it seems that the V presents less surface area than the U so less pressure on the wall.
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Pretty much this ^ but that should read:
so less pressure force on the wall.
IOW, the bottom of the dam is seeing the highest pressure (force per area) so by minimizing the
area down there (with a V rather than U) the force is minimized.