how much pressure is in a tank?

[Godlove]

To make this sinply.. the formula did not calculate the pressure on the side of the tank but the bottom of the tank

If I have a 4’ x 2’ x 2’ tank L x H x W then the volume of the water will be 16 cubic feet

16 cubic feet is ~1000 pounds of water

The area of the bottom of the tank is 8 square feet

8 square feet is equal to 1152 square inches

1000 pounds of water divide 1152 square inches and I get 0.87 pound per square inch

This is very basic formula to calculate the pressure on the bottom of the tank because it doesn’t consider the amount of pressure being exerted on the sides of the tank as well

If we do consider take the amount of pressure exerting on the sides of the tank then the pressure pressing on the bottom of the tank would be lower than 0.87 pound per square inch!

If the amount of pressure the bottom of the tank is experiencing is less than 0.87 pound per square inch then the sides of the tank should experience way less than 0.87 pound per square inch!

I want to rescue the animals that is why I am researching how to build my own acrylic tank and came across this forum

I was worried that my 4’ x 2’ x 2’ tank would experience too much pressure on the sides that the acrylic sheet from Home Depot with 1/4” thick wouldn’t be able to handle…

I also came across a paper from a website which I am lazy to look up again. The paper I believe if I remember correctly.. a ~0.22” which I assume the unit that the paper was using is claiming that it can handle ~10,000 pounds or ~10,000 kg per square inch..

 

[tlindsey]

To make this sinply.. the formula did not calculate the pressure on the side of the tank but the bottom of the tank

If I have a 4’ x 2’ x 2’ tank L x H x W then the volume of the water will be 16 cubic feet

16 cubic feet is ~1000 pounds of water

The area of the bottom of the tank is 8 square feet

8 square feet is equal to 1152 square inches

1000 pounds of water divide 1152 square inches and I get 0.87 pound per square inch

This is very basic formula to calculate the pressure on the bottom of the tank because it doesn’t consider the amount of pressure being exerted on the sides of the tank as well

If we do consider take the amount of pressure exerting on the sides of the tank then the pressure pressing on the bottom of the tank would be lower than 0.87 pound per square inch!

If the amount of pressure the bottom of the tank is experiencing is less than 0.87 pound per square inch then the sides of the tank should experience way less than 0.87 pound per square inch!

I want to rescue the animals that is why I am researching how to build my own acrylic tank and came across this forum

I was worried that my 4’ x 2’ x 2’ tank would experience too much pressure on the sides that the acrylic sheet from Home Depot with 1/4” thick wouldn’t be able to handle…

I also came across a paper from a website which I am lazy to look up again. The paper I believe if I remember correctly.. a ~0.22” which I assume the unit that the paper was using is claiming that it can handle ~10,000 pounds or ~10,000 kg per square inch..

Welcome aboard

 

[Godlove]

I hope my response will be helpful to others who want to help the animals!

 

[wannadivesteve]

I'm thinking while the pressure does not technically change on the front piece due to length, a lot of what affects the front piece itself is the flexibility of the material used and the amount of bracing which is used. Most of the models I've seen for self-builds often go unbraced up to 30-36 inches in length then either start bracing the heck out of it or going with thicker material as the aquarium gets longer. I can say from experience that I made a 6' long 17 inch tall tank out of quarter inch glass which had two 12-13 inch wide quarter inch thick glass braces across the top a third of the way in from each end. No other bracing. It held up for about a decade and a few moves. Eventually one brace separated from the front panel and the front panel blew out shortly thereafter. Thicker material or more bracing probably would have made a difference.