Eli5: If water can’t be compressed under normal conditions, then how does water pressure work?
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If water can’t BE compressed itself, then it would TRANSMIT that pressure forward. That takes into account what’s called “head pressure” where the water on top’s weight presses down (62 lbs per cubic foot) on the water below it. That can add up to a whole lot. It’s why your lungs feel emptier diving to the bottom of a 10ft pool than they do just under the surface.
To “compress” something is to make it smaller by putting it under pressure.
You can put water under pressure just fine, but it won’t get smaller. It stays the same size, now at a higher pressure.
It is “pressurized” but not “compressed”.
Water is compressible, just not by very much. For example 4 km under the ocean, water’s density is increased by just 1.8%. This is so small that saying water is in-compressible make for a good approximation.
Pressure does not depend on how compressible a substance is. It just depends on the total weight per unit area of all the substance above, pressing down.
Are you asking about home plumbing or the bottom of the ocean?
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