Identify the figure which represents the acceleration of a fluid along horizontal direction:
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Solution
Since the container of fluid is accelerated in rightward direction in all cases, a pseudo force (FP) will act on the fluid mass towards left. Apart from that, weight will be acting vertically downwards. Net force on any fluid element inside the container will be the resultant of weight and pseudo force.
∴ Fluid's free surface will get oriented along a direction perpendicular to net force (F), since fluids can't sustain shear stress.