ETS Hydraulic Educational Series

"Saving the World - One Customer at a Time..." ™

Educational Series - Volume 2 March 2026

What is a

Pascal's Law?

How does Pressure Work?

In an enclosed hydraulic system, the PRESSURE in the system acts EQUALLY within that system

IN ALL DIRECTIONS!

Every component in that system must be capable of supporting the maximum pressure associated with the work being done by it.

Regardless of the shape of the channel - if they are all open to air, then all balance out to the same level because they all experience the same atmospheric pressure imposed by gravity.

The Practical Side of Pascal's Law

Moving Bigger things with Smaller Forces

If the Area of the Hydraulic Cylinder on the right is 10X Larger than the area of the Cylinder on the left, then your INPUT FORCE is multiplied by a factor of 10x to the second cylinder.

This means you can lift something that weights 10X more than the Force you apply by simply using a larger cylinder area, and the factor involved is directly related to the ratio of the area between Cylinder 1 & Cylinder 2.

The FPA Triangle

The simple formula triangle to the right can be used to calculate the

Force, Pressure or Area

involved in a specific application - if you know any two of these factors you can easily calculate the third...

Fundamentals of Hydraulics Classes

Our week-long sessions include two major components of training:

Academic Training (above)

Hands-On Training (right)

(click on images for more information)

Our "Hands-On" training

helps students understand fluid power functionality with actual system components.

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How does Pressure Work?

﻿The FPA Triangle

The FPA Triangle