The fractional compression of water at the depth of below the sea level is:
- A
- B
- C
- D
The fractional compression of water at the depth of below the sea level is:
Correct answer:D
Standard Method
Given: Depth of water is . Density of water is , acceleration due to gravity is , and bulk modulus is .
Find: The fractional compression of water at this depth.
Use the relation
where the pressure at depth is
Substituting the given values,
Now,
Expressing this as percentage,
Therefore, the fractional compression of water is , so the correct option is D. The solution states option A, but the shown working gives .
Using pressure and bulk modulus carefully
Given: Water is at a depth below sea level.
Find: Fractional compression.
First calculate hydrostatic pressure:
With
we get
Now apply the definition of bulk modulus:
So,
As a percentage,
Hence the fractional compression is , matching option D.
Using instead of is incorrect because bulk modulus is defined as . Rearrange it carefully before substitution.
Not converting into leads to a wrong pressure value. Always convert depth to SI units before applying .
Confusing decimal fractional compression with percentage is a common error. Here as a fraction becomes after multiplying by , not .
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