B ERNOULLI ' S P RINCIPLE IN A CTION

As fluid moves from a wider pipe to a narrower one, the volume of the fluid that moves a given distance in a given time period does not change. But since the width of the narrower pipe is smaller, the fluid must move faster (that is, with greater dynamic pressure) in order to move the same amount of fluid the same distance in the same amount of time. Observe the behavior of a river: in a wide, unconstricted region, it flows slowly, but if its flow is narrowed by canyon walls, it speeds up dramatically. Bernoulli's principle ultimately became the basis for the airfoil, the design of an airplane's wing when seen from the end. An airfoil is shaped li e an asymmetrical teardrop laid on its side, with the !fat! end toward the airflow. As air hits the front of the airfoil, the airstream divides, part of it passing over the wing and part passing under. "he upper surface of the airfoil is curved, however, whereas the lower surface is much straighter. As a result, the air flowing over the top has a greater distance to cover than the air flowing under the wing. #ince fluids have a tendency to compensate for all ob$ects with which they come into contact, the air at the top will flow faster to meet the other portion of the airstream, the air flowing past the bottom of the wing, when both reach the rear end of the airfoil. %aster airflow, as demonstrated by Bernoulli, indicates lower pressure, meaning that the pressure on the bottom of the wing eeps the airplane aloft. &'(A")*+ A ,'A%". Among the most famous applications of Bernoulli's principle is its use in aerodynamics, and this is discussed in the conte-t of aerodynamics itself elsewhere in this boo . .i ewise, a number of other applications of Bernoulli's principle are e-amined in an essay devoted to that topic. Bernoulli's principle, for instance, e-plains why a shower curtain tends to billow inward when the water is turned on/ in addition, it shows why an open window and door together create a draft. #uppose one is in a hotel room where the heat is on too high, and there is no way to ad$ust the thermostat. Outside, however, the air is cold, and thus, by opening a window, one can presumably cool down the room. But if one opens the window without opening the front door of the room, there will be little temperature change. "he only way to cool off will be by standing ne-t to the window: elsewhere in the room, the air will be every bit as stuffy as before. But if the door leading to the hotel hallway is opened, a nice cool bree0e will blow through the room. 1hy2 1ith the door closed, the room constitutes an area of relatively high pressure compared to the pressure of the air outside the window. Because air is a fluid, it will tend to flow into the room, but once the pressure inside reaches a certain point, it will prevent additional air from entering. "he tendency of fluids is to move from high3pressure to low3 pressure areas, not the other way around. As soon as the door is opened, the relatively high3pressure air of the room flows into the relatively low3pressure area of the hallway.

As a result, the air pressure in the room is reduced, and the air from outside can now enter. #oon a wind will begin to blow through the room. A WIND TUNNEL. "he above scenario of wind flowing through a room describes a rudimentary wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is a chamber built for the purpose of e-amining the characteristics of airflow in contact with solid ob$ects, such as aircraft and automobiles. "he wind tunnel represents a safe and $udicious use of the properties of fluid mechanics. )ts purpose is to test the interaction of airflow and solids in relative motion: in other words, either the aircraft has to be moving against the airflow, as it does in flight, or the airflow can be moving against a stationary aircraft. "he first of these choices, of course, poses a number of dangers/ on the other hand, there is little danger in e-posing a stationary craft to winds at speeds simulating that of the aircraft in flight. "he first wind tunnel was built in (ngland in 4564, and years later, aircraft pioneers Orville (456434785) and 1ilbur (45963474:) 1right used a wind tunnel to improve their planes. By the late 47;<s, the =.#. *ational Advisory &ommittee for Aeronautics (*A&A) was building wind tunnels capable of creating speeds e>ual to ;<< ?@A (85< mBh)/ but wind tunnels built after 1orld 1ar )) made these loo primitive. 1ith the development of $et3powered flight, it became necessary to build wind tunnels capable of simulating winds at the speed of soundC69< ?@A (;8< mBs). By the 47D<s, wind tunnels were being used to simulate hypersonic speedsCthat is, speeds of ?ach D (five times the speed of sound) and above. 'esearchers today use helium to create wind blasts at speeds up to ?ach D<.

F LUID M ECHANICS FOR P ERFORMING W ORK

HYDRAULIC PRESSES. "hough applications of Bernoulli's principle are among the most dramatic e-amples of fluid mechanics in operation, the everyday world is filled with instances of other ideas at wor . @ascal's principle, for instance, can be seen in the operation of any number of machines that represent variations on the idea of a hydraulic press. Among these is the hydraulic $ac used to raise a car off the floor of an auto mechanic's shop. Beneath the floor of the shop is a chamber containing a >uantity of fluid, and at either end of the chamber are two large cylinders side by side. (ach cylinder holds a piston, and valves control flow between the two cylinders through the channel of fluid that connects them. )n accordance with @ascal's principle, when one applies force by pressing down the piston in one cylinder (the input cylinder), this yields a uniform pressure that causes output in the second cylinder, pushing up a piston that raises the car. Another e-ample of a hydraulic press is the hydraulic ram, which can be found in machines ranging from bulldo0ers to the hydraulic lifts used by firefighters and utility wor ers to reach heights. )n a hydraulic ram, however, the characteristics of the input and

output cylinders are reversed from those of a car $ac . %or the car $ac , the input cylinder is long and narrow, while the output cylinder is wide and short. "his is because the purpose of a car $ac is to raise a heavy ob$ect through a relatively short vertical range of movementC$ust high enough so that the mechanic can stand comfortably underneath the car. )n the hydraulic ram, the input or master cylinder is short and s>uat, while the output or slave cylinder is tall and narrow. "his is because the hydraulic ram, in contrast to the car $ac , carries a much lighter cargo (usually $ust one person) through a much greater vertical rangeCfor instance, to the top of a tree or building. PUMPS. A pump is a device made for moving fluid, and it does so by utili0ing a pressure difference, causing the fluid to move from an area of higher pressure to one of lower pressure. )ts operation is based on aspects both of @ascal's and Bernoulli's principlesC though, of course, humans were using pumps thousands of years before either man was born. A siphon hose used to draw gas from a car's fuel tan is a very simple pump. #uc ing on one end of the hose creates an area of low pressure compared to the relatively high3 pressure area of the gas tan . (ventually, the gasoline will come out of the low3pressure end of the hose. "he piston pump, slightly more comple-, consists of a vertical cylinder along which a piston rises and falls. *ear the bottom of the cylinder are two valves, an inlet valve through which fluid flows into the cylinder, and an outlet valve through which fluid flows out. As the piston moves upward, the inlet valve opens and allows fluid to enter the cylinder. On the downstro e, the inlet valve closes while the outlet valve opens, and the pressure provided by the piston forces the fluid through the outlet valve. One of the most obvious applications of the piston pump is in the engine of an automobile. )n this case, of course, the fluid being pumped is gasoline, which pushes the pistons up and down

@ =?@# %O' ,'A1)*+ =#AB.( 1A"(' %'O? "A( +'O=*, A'( =*,O=B"(,.E "A( O.,(#" @=?@# F*O1* . (Photograph by 'ichard &umminsB&orbis . Reproduced by permission.) by providing a series of controlled e-plosions created by the spar plug's ignition of the gas. )n another variety of piston pumpCthe ind used to inflate a bas etball or a bicycle tireCair is the fluid being pumped. "hen there is a pump for water. @umps for drawing usable water from the ground are undoubtedly the oldest nown variety, but there are also pumps designed to remove water from areas where it is undesirable/ for e-ample, a bilge pump, for removing water from a boat, or the sump pump used to pump flood water out of a basement. FLUID POWER. %or several thousand years, humans have used fluidsCin particular waterCto power a number of devices. One of the great engineering achievements of ancient times was the development of the waterwheel, which included a series of buc ets along the rim that made it possible to raise water from the river below and disperse it to other points. By about 6<
B.&. ,

'oman engineers recogni0ed that they could use the power of water itself to turn wheels and grind grain. "hus, the waterwheel became one of the first mechanisms in which an inanimate source (as opposed to the effort of humans or animals) created power. "he water cloc , too, was another ingenious use of water developed by the ancients. )t did not use water for power/ rather, it relied on gravityCa concept only dimly understood by ancient peoplesCto move water from one chamber of thecloc to another, thus, mar ing a specific interval of time. "he earliest cloc s were sundials, which were effective for measuring time, provided the #un was shining, but which were less useful form easuring periods shorter than an hour. Aence, the development of the hourglass,

which used sand, a solid that in larger >uantities e-hibits the behavior of a fluid. "hen, in about :6< B.&. , &tesibius of Ale-andria (fl. c. :6<3:D< B.&. ) used gearwheel technology to devise a constant3flow water cloc called a !clepsydra.! =se of water cloc s prevailed for more than a thousand years, until the advent of the first mechanical cloc s. ,uring the medieval period, fluids provided power to windmills and water mills, and at the dawn of the )ndustrial Age, engineers began applying fluid principles to a number of sophisticated machines. Among these was the turbine, a machine that converts the inetic energy (the energy of movement) in fluids to useable mechanical energy by passing the stream of fluid through a series of fi-ed and moving fans or blades. A common house fan is an e-ample of a turbine in reverse: the fan adds energy to the passing fluid (air), whereas a turbine e-tracts energy from fluids such as air and water. "he turbine was developed in the mid3eighteenth century, and later it was applied to the e-traction of power from hydroelectric dams, the first of which was constructed in 4578. "oday, hydroelectric dams provide electric power to millions of homes around the world. Among the most dramatic e-amples of fluid mechanics in action, hydroelectric dams are vast in si0e and e>ually impressive in the power they can generate using a completely renewable resource: water. A hydroelectric dam forms a huge steel3and3concrete curtain that holds bac millions of tons of water from a river or other body. "he water nearest the topCthe !head! of the damChas enormous potential energy, or the energy that an ob$ect possesses by virtue of its position. Aydroelectric power is created by allowing controlled streams of this water to flow downward, gathering inetic energy that is then transferred to powering turbines, which in turn generate electric power. 'ead more: http:BBwww.scienceclarified.comBeverydayB'eal3.ife3&hemistry3Gol3;3 @hysics3Gol34B%luid3?echanics3'eal3life3applications.htmlHi-00<v8b;<:44