Fluid Dynamics

Outline of Topics
1. Definitions
2. Equation of Continuity
3. Bernoulli’s Equation
4. Viscous Flow

Specific Intended Learning Outcome/s (SILOs)

At the end of this topic, the student should be able to:
● Comprehend the different terms commonly used in Fluid Dynamics
● Use the Equation of Continuity and Bernoulli’s Equation in solving problems involving
fluid flow
● Understand Viscous Flow

Fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion, is much more complex; indeed, it is one of the
most complex branches of mechanics. Fortunately, we can analyze many important situations
using simple idealized models and familiar principles such as Newton’s laws and conservation
of energy.

Lesson 1: Definitions
We are now ready to consider motion of a fluid. Fluid flow can be extremely complex, as shown
by the currents in river rapids or the swirling flames of a campfire. But some situations can be
represented by relatively simple idealized models. An ideal fluid is a fluid that is incompressible
(that is, its density cannot change) and has no internal friction (called viscosity). Liquids are
approximately incompressible in most situations, and we may also treat a gas as incompressible
if the pressure differences from one region to another are not too great. Internal friction in a fluid
causes shear stresses when two adjacent layers of fluid move relative to each other, as when
fluid flows inside a tube or around an obstacle. In some cases, we can neglect these shear
forces in comparison with forces arising from gravitation and pressure differences.

The path of an individual particle in a moving fluid is called a flow line. If the overall flow pattern
does not change with time, the flow is called steady flow. In steady flow, every element passing
through a given point follows the same flow line. In this case the “map” of the fluid velocities at
various points in space remains constant, although the velocity of a particular particle may
change in both magnitude and direction during its motion. A streamline is a curve whose
tangent at any point is in the direction of the fluid velocity at
that point. When the flow pattern changes with time, the
streamlines do not coincide with the flow lines. We will
consider only steady-flow situations, for which flow lines
and streamlines are identical.

The flow lines passing through the edge of an imaginary

element of area, such as the area A in the figure, form a
tube called a flow tube. From the definition of a flow line, in
steady flow no fluid can cross the side walls of a flow tube;
the fluids in different flow tubes cannot mix.
 The figures on the left show patterns of
fluid flow from left to right around three
different obstacles. The photographs
were made by injecting dye into water
flowing between two closely spaced glass
plates. These patterns are typical of
laminar flow, in which
adjacent layers of fluid
slide smoothly past
each other and the flow is steady. (A lamina is a thin sheet.)

At sufficiently high flow rates, or when boundary surfaces cause abrupt

changes in velocity, the flow can become irregular and chaotic. This is called
turbulent flow (right). In turbulent flow there is no steady-state pattern; the flow
pattern changes continuously.

Lesson 2: Equation of Continuity

The mass of a moving fluid doesn’t change as it flows. This leads to an important quantitative
relationship called the continuity equation.

Where A is the cross-sectional area of the tube and v is the velocity of flow. The product is the
volume flow rate the rate at which volume crosses a section of the tube:

The mass flow rate is the mass flow per unit time through a cross section. This is equal to the
density times the volume flow rate. The continuity equation for incompressible fluid shows that
the volume flow rate has the same value at all points along any flow tube. When the cross
section of a flow tube decreases, the speed increases, and vice versa. A broad, deep part of a
river has larger cross section and slower current than a narrow, shallow part, but the volume
flow rates are the same in both. This is the essence of the familiar maxim, “Still waters run
deep.”

We can generalize the continuity equation for the case in which the fluid is not incompressible. If
ρ1 and ρ2 are the densities at sections 1 and 2, then

Example Problem 2.1

Incompressible oil of density 850kg/m3 is pumped through a cylindrical pipe at a rate of 9.5 liters
per second. a) The first section of the pipe has a diameter of 8.0 cm. What is the flow speed of
the oil? What is the mass flow rate? b) The second section of the pipe has a diameter of 4.0
cm. What are the flow speed and mass flow rate in that section?
Solution:

a)

b)

Example Problem 2.2

A garden hose has an unobstructed opening with a cross-sectional area of 2.85x10-4 m2, from
which water fills a bucket in 30.0s. The volume of the bucket is 8.00x10-3 m3 (about two gallons).
Find the speed of the water that leaves the hose through a) the unobstructed opening and b) an
obstructed opening with half as much area.

Solution:
a)

b)

Example Problem 2.3

In the condition known as atherosclerosis, a deposit, or atheroma, forms on the arterial wall and
reduces the opening through which blood can flow. In the carotid artery in the neck, blood flows
three times faster through a partially blocked region than it does through an unobstructed
region. Determine the ratio of the effective radii of the artery at the two places.

Solution:
Lesson 3: Bernoulli’s Equation
According to the continuity equation, the speed of fluid flow can vary along the paths of the fluid.
The pressure can also vary; it depends on height as in the static situation, and it also depends
on the speed of flow. We can use an important relationship called Bernoulli’s equation that
relates the pressure, flow speed, and height for flow of an ideal, incompressible fluid. Bernoulli’s
equation is an essential tool in analyzing plumbing systems, hydroelectric generating stations,
and the flight of airplanes.

The Bernoulli’s Equation states that the work done on a unit volume of fluid by the surrounding
fluid is equal to the sum of the changes in kinetic and potential energies per unit volume that
occur during the flow.

The subscripts 1 and 2 refer to any two points along the flow tube.

Problem Solving Strategy

▪ Identify the relevant concepts. Bernoulli’s equation is applicable to steady flow of an

incompressible fluid that has no internal friction. It is generally applicable to flows
through large pipes and to flows within bulk fluids (e.g., air flowing around an airplane or
water flowing around a fish).
▪ Identify the points 1 and 2 referred to in Bernoulli’s equation
▪ Define your coordinate system, particularly the level at which y=0. Take the positive
y-direction to be upward.
▪ Make lists of the unknown and known quantities in the Bernoulli’s equation. Decide
which unknowns are the target variables.
▪ Write Bernoulli’s equation and solve for the unknowns. You may need the continuity
equation, to get a relationship between the two speeds in terms of cross-sectional areas
of pipes or containers. You may also need to find the volume flow rate.
▪ Verify that the results make physical sense. Check that you have used consistent units:
In SI units, pressure is in pascals, density in kilograms per cubic meter, and speed in
meters per second. Also note that the pressures must be either all absolute pressures or
all gauge pressures.
Example Problem 3.1

Water enters a house through a pipe with an inside

diameter of 2.0cm at an absolute pressure of 4.0x105Pa
(about 4 atm). A 1.0-cm-diameter pipe leads to the
second-floor bathroom 5.0 m above. When the flow speed
at the inlet pipe is 1.5m/s, find the flow speed, pressure,
and volume flow rate in the bathroom.

Solution:

Example Problem 3.2

The figure shows a food product tank with cross-sectional area A1 filled to a depth h. The space
above the gasoline contains air at pressure p0, and the gasoline flows out the bottom of the tank
through a short pipe with cross-sectional area A2. Derive expressions for the flow speed in the
pipe and the volume flow rate.

Solution:
Example Problem 3.3

A Venturi meter is used to measure flow speed in a pipe.

Derive an expression for the flow speed in terms of the
cross-sectional areas A1 and A2, and the difference in
height h of the liquid levels in the two vertical tubes.

Solution:

Lesson 4: Viscosity and Turbulence

In the previous lesson, we assumed that the fluid had no internal friction and that the flow was
laminar. While these assumptions are often quite valid, in many important physical situations the
effects of viscosity (internal friction) and turbulence (nonlaminar flow) are extremely important.
Let’s take a brief look at some of these situations.

Viscosity

Viscosity is internal friction in a fluid. Viscous forces oppose the motion of one portion of a fluid
relative to another. Viscosity is the reason it takes effort to paddle a canoe through calm water,
but it is also the reason the paddle works. Viscous effects are important in the flow of fluids in
pipes, the flow of blood, the lubrication of engine parts, and many other situations.

Fluids that flow readily, such as water or gasoline, have smaller

viscosities than do “thick” liquids such as honey or motor oil.
Viscosities of all fluids are strongly temperature dependent,
increasing for gases and decreasing for liquids as the
temperature increases. Oils for engine lubrication must flow
equally well in cold and warm conditions, and so are designed
to have as little temperature variation of viscosity as possible.

A viscous fluid always tends to cling to a solid surface in

contact with it. There is always a thin boundary layer of fluid
near the surface, in which the fluid is nearly at rest with respect
to the surface. That’s why dust particles can cling to a fan blade
even when it is rotating rapidly, and why you can’t get all the dirt
off your car by just squirting a hose at it.

Turbulence
When the speed of a flowing fluid exceeds a certain critical value,
the flow is no longer laminar. Instead, the flow pattern becomes
extremely irregular and complex, and it changes continuously with
time; there is no steady-state pattern. This irregular, chaotic flow is called turbulence. The figure
shows the contrast between laminar and turbulent flow for smoke rising in air. Bernoulli’s
equation is not applicable to regions where there is turbulence because the flow is not steady.

Whether a flow is laminar or turbulent depends in part on the fluid’s viscosity. The greater the
viscosity, the greater the tendency for the fluid to flow in sheets or lamina and the more likely the
flow is to be laminar.

References:

Physics 9th Edition by Cutnell, et. al.

Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics with Modern Physics Technology Update 13th Edition by Young,
et. Al
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========= Fluid Dynamics
Assessment Task:
Fluid Flow

1. A shower head has 20 circular openings, each with radius 1.0 mm. The shower head is
connected to a pipe with radius 0.80 cm. If the speed of water in the pipe is 3.0m/s what is its
speed as it exits the shower-head openings?

2. Water is flowing in a pipe with a circular cross section but with varying cross-sectional area, and
at all points the water completely fills the pipe. a) At one point in the pipe the radius is 0.150 m.
What is the speed of the water at this point if water is flowing into this pipe at a steady rate of
1.20m3/s b) At a second point in the pipe the water speed is 3.80m/s. What is the radius of the
pipe at this point?

3. At a point where an irrigation canal having a rectangular cross section is 18.5 m wide and 3.75 m
deep, the water flows at 2.50cm/s. At a point downstream, but on the same level, the canal is
16.5 m wide, but the water flows at 11.0 cm/s. How deep is the canal at this point?

4. A patient recovering from surgery is being given fluid intravenously. The fluid has a density of
1030 kg/m3, and 9.5x10-4m3 of it flows into the patient every six hours. Find the mass flow rate in
kg/s.
 5. A room has a volume of 120 m3. An air-conditioning system is to replace the air in this room every
twenty minutes, using ducts that have a square cross section. Assuming that air can be treated
as an incompressible fluid, find the length of a side of the square if the air speed within the ducts
is a) 3.0 m/s and b) 5.0 m/s.

6. The aorta carries blood away from the heart at a speed of about 40 cm/s and has a radius of
approximately 1.1 cm. The aorta branches eventually into a large number of tiny capillaries that
distribute the blood to the various body organs. In a capillary, the blood speed is approximately
0.07 cm/s, and the radius is about 6 x 10-4cm. Treat the blood as an incompressible fluid, and use
these data to determine the approximate number of capillaries in the human body.

Bernoulli’s Equation

7. A sealed tank containing seawater to a height of 11.0 m also contains air above the water at a
gauge pressure of 3.00 atm. Waterflows out from the bottom through a small hole. How fast is this
water moving?

8. At a certain point in a horizontal pipeline, the water’s speed is 2.50m/s and the gauge pressure is
1.80x104 Pa. Find the gauge pressure at a second point in the line if the cross-sectional area at
the second point is twice that at the first.

9. Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents. They do not

suffocate in their burrows, because the effect of air
speed on pressure creates sufficient air circulation. The
animals maintain a difference in the shapes of two
 entrances to the burrow, and because of this difference, the air (1.29 kg/m3) blows past the
openings at different speeds, as the drawing indicates. Assuming that the openings are at the
same vertical level, find the difference in air pressure between the openings and indicate which
way the air circulates.

10. The drawing shows a gas flowing at speed v2 through a horizontal section of pipe whose
cross-sectional area is A2 =0.0700 m2. The gas has a density of 1.30 kg/m3. The Venturi meter
has a cross-sectional area A1 of 0.0500
m2 and has been substituted for a
section of the larger pipe. The pressure
difference between the two sections is
120 Pa. Find a) the speed v2 of the gas
in the larger, original pipe and b) the
volume flow rate Q of the gas.