Applied Fluid Mechanics

1. The Nature of Fluid and the

Study of Fluid Mechanics
2. Pressure Measurement
3. Forces Due to Static Fluid
4. Buoyancy and Stability
5. Flow of Fluid and Bernoulli’s Equation
6. Forces Due to Fluids in Motion
7. General Energy Equation
8. Reynolds Number, Laminar Flow, Turbulent Flow
and Energy Losses Due to Friction
9. Minor Losses

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Chapter Objectives

1. Differentiate between a gas and a liquid.

2. Define pressure.

3. Identify the units for the basic quantities of time, length, force, and
mass in the SI system (metric unit system).

4. Properly set up equations to ensure consistency of units.

5. Define the relationship between force and mass.

6. Define density, specific weight, and specific gravity.

7. Identify the relationships between specific weight, specific gravity, and

density, and solve problems using these relationships.

8. Define surface tension.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Chapter Outline

1. Basic Introductory Concepts

2. The International System of Units (SI)

3. The US Customary System

4. Weight and Mass

5. Temperature

6. Consistent Units In an Equation

7. The Definition of Pressure

8. Compressibility

9. Density, Specific Weight and Specific Gravity

10. Surface Tension

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.1 Basic Introductory Concepts

• Figure 1.1 shows the typical piping system for fluid power.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.1 Basic Introductory Concepts

Pressure

• Pressure is defined as the amount of force exerted on a unit area of a

substance or on a surface. This can be stated by the equation

p
F
1 1
A
Liquid and Gases

• Fluids can be either liquids or gases.

• The following general descriptions of liquids and gases are:

1. Gases are readily compressible.

2. Liquids are only slightly compressible.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.1 Basic Introductory Concepts

Weight and Mass

• Mass is the property of a body of fluid that is a measure of its inertia

or resistance to a change in motion. It is also a measure of the
quantity of fluid.

• Weight is the amount that a body of fluid weighs, that is, the force with
which the fluid is attracted toward Earth by gravitation.

• We use the symbol m for mass and w for weight in this book.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.1 Basic Introductory Concepts

Fluid Properties

• Other fluid properties are specific weight, density, specific gravity,

surface tension and viscosity.

• It is also important in determining the character of the flow of fluids

and the amount of energy that is lost from a fluid flowing in a system.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.2 The International System of Units (SI)

• The SI units for the basic quantities are

• An equivalent unit for force indicated above is derived from the

relationship between force and mass,

where a is the acceleration expressed (m/s2)

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.2 The International System of Units (SI)

• Therefore, the derived unit for force is

• Similarly

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.2.1 SI Unit Prefixes
• Table 1.1 shows the SI unit prefixes.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.3 The US Customary System

• U.S. Customary System defines the basic quantities as follows:

• It may help to note the relationship between force and mass,

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.4 Weight and Mass

• Weight is a force and mass is the quantity of a substance.

• We relate these two terms by applying Newton’s law of gravitation

stated as force equals mass times acceleration, or

• Weight and mass relationship becomes

w  mg 1 2

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.4.1 Weight and Mass in the SI Unit System

• For example, consider a rock with a mass of 5.60 kg suspended by a

wire. To determine what force is exerted on the wire, we use Newton’s
law of gravitation

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.4.1 Weight and Mass in the SI Unit System

• We can also compute the mass of an object if we know its weight.

For example, assume that we have measured the weight of a valve
to be 8.25 N. What is its mass?

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.5 Consistent Units in an Equation

Table 1.2 SI units for common quantities used in fluid mechanics.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.1
Imagine you are traveling in a car at a constant speed of 80 kilometers
per hour (km/h). How many seconds (s) would it take to travel 1.5 km?

For the solution, use the equation

where s is the distance traveled, is the speed, and t is the time.

Answer  t = 67.5 s

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.7 The Definition of Pressure

• Pressure is defined as the amount of force exerted on a unit area of a

substance. This can be stated by the equation

p
F
1 3
A

• Two important principles about pressure were described by Blaise

Pascal, a seventeenth-century scientist:

1. Pressure acts uniformly in all directions on a small volume of a

fluid.

2. In a fluid confined by solid boundaries, pressure acts

perpendicular to the boundary. 17
1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.7 The Definition of Pressure
Fig 1.2 The pressure acting uniformly in all directions on a small volume
of fluid.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.7 The Definition of Pressure

Fig 1.3 The direction of fluid pressure on boundaries.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.7 The Definition of Pressure

• The bar is another unit used by some people working in fluid

mechanics and thermodynamics.

• The bar is defined as 105 Pa or 105 N/m2.

• 1 bar = 100 x 103 N/m2, which is equivalent to 100 kPa.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.2
Figure 1.4 shows a container of liquid with a movable piston supporting a
load. Compute the magnitude of the pressure in the liquid under the
piston if the total weight of the piston and the load is 500 N and the area
of the piston is 2500 mm2.

Figure 1.4
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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.2
It is reasonable to assume that the entire surface of the fluid under the
piston is sharing in the task of supporting the load. The second of
Pascal’s laws states that the fluid pressure acts perpendicular to the
piston. Then, using Eq. (1–3), we have

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.8 Compressibility

• Compressibility refers to the change in volume (V) of a substance that

is subjected to a change in pressure on it.

• The usual quantity used to measure this phenomenon is the bulk

modulus of elasticity or, simply, bulk modulus, E:
 p
E 1  4
V  / V
Table 1.4 Bulk modulus for selected liquids at atmospheric pressure and 20°C.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.3
Compute the change in pressure that must be applied to water to
change its volume by 1.0 percent.

The 1% volume change indicates that ΔV/V = -0.01.

 p
E 1  4
V  / V
Then, the required change in pressure is

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.9 Density, Specific Weight and Specific Gravity

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.9 Density, Specific Weight and Specific Gravity

• Specific gravity can be defined in either of two ways:

a. Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the

density of water at 4°C.

b. Specific gravity is the ratio of the specific weight of a substance

to the specific weight of water at 4°C.

• These definitions for specific gravity (sg) can be shown

mathematically as
s s
sg   1  7 
 w @ 4C  w @ 4C

where the subscript s refers to the substance whose specific gravity is

being determined and the subscript w refers to water. 26
1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.9.1 Relation Between Density and Specific Weight

• Quite often the specific weight of a substance must be found when its
density is known and vice versa.

• The definition of specific weight is

• By multiplying g on numerator and denominator, we reduced to

  g 1 9

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.4
Calculate the weight of a reservoir of oil if it has a mass of 825 kg. If the
reservoir has a volume of 0.917m3, compute the density, the specific
weight, and the specific gravity of the oil.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.5
Glycerine at 20°C has a specific gravity of 1.263. Compute its density and
specific weight.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.6

A pint of water weighs 4.632 N. Find its mass.

Because w = mg, the mass is

Remember that the units of kg and Ns2/m are the same.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.10 Surface Tension

• Surface tension acts somewhat like a film at the interface between

the liquid water surface and the air above it.

• Surface tension is also the reason that water droplets assume a

nearly spherical shape.

• The movement of liquids within small spaces depends on this

capillary action.

• Wicking is the term often used to describe the rise of a fluid from a
liquid surface into a woven material.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.10 Surface Tension

Table 1.5 The surface tension of water.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
1.10 Surface Tension

Table 1.6 The surface tension of some common liquids.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.7: Fluid jet

The break-up of a fluid jet into drops is a

function of fluid properties such as density,
viscosity, and surface tension.

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Example 1.8: Viscous Fluids

Video?

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Ex. 1.9: Capillary Tube Viscometer

Video?

Q: Which fluid has the highest viscosity?

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1. The NatureTable 1.7 Comparisons
of Fluid and theofStudy
solids, liquids and gases
of Fluid Mechanics

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics
Important properties of fluid that you must know:
Fluid Properties SI Units Formula
Mass, m kg -
Acceleration, a m/s2

Weight, W N

Pressure, P Pa or N/m2

kg/m3

N/m3

Specific gravity, S.G. -

Dynamic viscosity,  (meu) N.s/m2 -

m2/s 38
1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics

Given E = 1303 MN/m2

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics

36.79kN

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1. The Nature of Fluid and the Study of Fluid Mechanics

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