How to Understand Hydraulic Systems
Hydraulic systems function using air or water pressure. By transferring and focusing force through this pressure, the user can move objects that are heavier than he could move on his own, that are far away or both. Hydraulic systems are present in a wide variety of contexts, from farms to automobile brakes to simple things such as syringes. The underlying theme, though, of transferred force through pressure, is the same.
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Instructions
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Understand the physical laws that govern liquids. Liquid will always be inclined to naturally flow from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas. This is why your faucet works -- when you open it, you are reducing the pressure at its end, which causes water to flow through it as it finds a lower-pressure area.
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Look at the relationship between force, volume and pressure. When you apply force to a liquid and reduce its volume, you are increasing its pressure. This is because the liquid has nowhere to go when you reduce the volume by applying force; it has to pressurize to make room.
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Remember that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Hydraulic systems make energy more efficient. They do not create it, though, as this is impossible. If you are using a hydraulic system to move a force larger than the input force, you are going to lose distance. For example, if you press a hydraulic system with 10 pounds of pressure and the other end has a 100-pound weight, the 100-pound weight is going to move at one 10th of the rate at which the 10-pound rate moves. For every 10 feet you move the 10-pound weight, the 100-pound weight will only move one foot.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember that hydraulic systems use highly pressurized fluid, so a leak can be very dangerous.
