Serway & Jewett — Fluid Mechanics: Problem 6

For the cellar of a new house, a hole is dug in the ground, with vertical sides going down \( 2.40\text{ m} \). A concrete foundation wall is built all the way across the \( 9.60\text{-m} \) width of the excavation. This foundation wall is \( 0.183\text{ m} \) away from the front of the cellar hole. During a rainstorm, drainage from the street fills up the space in front of the concrete wall, but not the cellar behind the wall. The water does not soak into the clay soil. Find the force the water causes on the foundation wall. For comparison, the weight of the water is given by \( 2.40\text{ m} \times 9.60\text{ m} \times 0.183\text{ m} \times 1\,000\text{ kg/m}^3 \times 9.80\text{ m/s}^2 = 41.3\text{ kN} \).