Change in volume of liquid under pressure (compressibility)

Everyone knows that gases can be compressed, but liquids can also be compressed. However, compared to gases, liquids have negligible compressibility, and very high pressures are required for any appreciable compression. However, for those who are interested, the calculator below allows you to estimate the change in volume of a liquid with a change in pressure, using what is known as the compressibility coefficient.

In the calculator below, you enter the compressibility coefficient (in the form below, enter the coefficient manually or choose from the list), the initial volume (in the form below, it is one cubic meter), and the change in pressure in pascals (in the form below, it is 100 Megapascals, a pressure comparable to the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench). The calculator calculates the absolute volume change in cubic meters and the relative volume change as a percentage of the initial volume.

A bit of theory, as usual, can be found below the calculator

Change in volume of liquid under pressure (compressibility)

Compressibility factor

pick from the list

enter manually

Compressibility factor forLoading...

Fluid compressibility coefficient

Initial fluid volume, cubic meters

Pressure change, Pascal

Calculate

Calculation precision

Digits after the decimal point: 3

Volume change, cubic meters

 

Volume change, %

 

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Compressibility of liquids

The Compressibility Ratio is the ratio of the relative change in volume to the change in pressure that caused the change.

,

where V is the volume of the substance, p is the pressure; the minus sign indicates that the volume decreases as the pressure increases.

Typical values of the compressibility coefficient for liquids lie in the range from to , for example, for distilled water it is , and that is why in most cases the change in volume of a liquid under pressure is so negligible that it can be neglected.