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Hydrostatics
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<p>Hydrostatics is the branch of <a href="/facts/Fluid_mechanics/NIy4tRfE">fluid mechanics</a> that studies <a href="/facts/Fluid/wLnMhBC0">fluids</a> at <a href="/facts/Hydrostatic_equilibrium/e75gVkh2">hydrostatic equilibrium</a> and "the pressure in a fluid or exerted by a fluid on an immersed body". The word "hydrostatics" is sometimes used to refer specifically to water and other liquids, but more often it includes both gases and liquids, whether <a href="/facts/Compressible_flow/SUX6gw9D">compressible</a> or <a href="/facts/Incompressible_flow/1CwmhTPf">incompressible</a>. </p><p>It encompasses the study of the conditions under which fluids are at rest in <a href="/facts/Mechanical_equilibrium/N2XKaK6s">stable equilibrium</a>. It is opposed to <i><a href="/facts/Fluid_dynamics/y7uzSCfg">fluid dynamics</a></i>, the study of fluids in motion. </p><p>Hydrostatics is fundamental to <i><a href="/facts/Hydraulics/KSIqLovc">hydraulics</a></i>, the <a href="/facts/Engineering/RFVg8H3I">engineering</a> of equipment for storing, transporting and using fluids. It is also relevant to <a href="/facts/Geophysics/ywVQ1sAQ">geophysics</a> and <a href="/facts/Astrophysics/krFPRWLA">astrophysics</a> (for example, in understanding <a href="/facts/Plate_tectonics/RtRG5lY4">plate tectonics</a> and the anomalies of the <a href="/facts/Gravity_of_Earth/IXe9Bh8k">Earth's gravitational field</a>), to <a href="/facts/Meteorology/xblFr28q">meteorology</a>, to <a href="/facts/Medicine/2fnp90Je">medicine</a> (in the context of <a href="/facts/Blood_pressure/VtqqSM2J">blood pressure</a>), and many other fields. </p><p>Hydrostatics offers physical explanations for many phenomena of everyday life, such as why <a href="/facts/Atmospheric_pressure/wJLMSaVG">atmospheric pressure</a> changes with <a href="/facts/Altitude/B5eNVurK">altitude</a>, why wood and oil float on water, and why the surface of still water is always <a href="/facts/Water_level/tUYQsFkI">level</a> according to the <a href="/facts/Spherical_Earth/YEpM38jY">curvature of the earth</a>. </p>