Question

A vertical off-shore structure is built to withstand a maximum stress of 10⁹ Pa. Is the structure suitable for putting up on top of an oil well in the ocean ? Take the depth of the ocean to be roughly 3 km, and ignore ocean currents.

Answer 1

Given, the maximum stress is 10 9  Gpa and the depth of the ocean is 3 km.

The hydrodynamic pressure is given by the equation,

P=ρgh

Substituting the values in the above equation, we get:

P=1000  kg/ m 3 ×9.8 m/ s 2 ×3× 10 3  m =3× 10 7  Pa

Hence the pressure is lesser than the maximum stress, therefore the structure is suitable.