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Pressure

Pressure is defined as force per unit area. It is usually more convenient to use
pressure rather than force to describe the influences upon fluid behavior. The
standard unit for pressure is the Pascal, which is a Newton per square meter.
For an object sitting on a surface, the force pressing on the surface is theweight of
the object, but in different orientations it might have a different area in contact with
the surface and therefore exert a different pressure.

Pressure calculation.


There are many physical situations where pressure is the most important variable.
If you are peeling an apple, then pressure is the key variable: if the knife is sharp,
then the area of contact is small and you can peel with less force exerted on the
blade. If you must get an injection, then pressure is the most important variable in
getting the needle through your skin: it is better to have a sharp needle than a dull
one since the smaller area of contact implies that less force is required to push the
needle through the skin.
When you deal with the pressure of a liquid at rest, the medium is treated as a
continuous distribution of matter. But when you deal with a gas pressure, it must
be approached as an average pressure from molecular collisions with the walls.
Pressure in a fluid can be seen to be a measure of energy per unit volume by means
of the definition of work. This energy is related to other forms of fluid energy by
the Bernoulli equation.

Pressure as Energy Density
Pressure in a fluid may be considered to be a measure of energy per unit volume or
energy density. For a force exerted on a fluid, this can be seen from the definition
of pressure:

The most obvious application is to the hydrostatic pressure of a fluid, where
pressure can be used as energy density alongside kinetic energy
density andpotential energy density in the Bernoulli equation.
The other side of the coin is that energy densities from other causes can be
conveniently expressed as an effective "pressure". For example, the energy density
of solvent molecules which leads to osmosis is expressed as osmotic pressure. The
energy density which keeps a star from collapsing is expressed as radiation
pressure.
Fluid Kinetic Energy
The kinetic energy of a moving fluid is more useful in applications like
theBernoulli equation when it is expressed as kinetic energy per unit volume

When the kinetic energy is that of fluid under conditions of laminar flowthrough a
tube, one must take into account the velocity profile to evaluate the kinetic energy.
Across the cross-section of flow, the kinetic energy must be calculated using the
average of the velocity squared , which is not the same as squaring the average
velocity. Expressed in terms of the maximum velocity v
m
at the center of the flow,
the kinetic energy is


Kinetic Energy of Tube Flow
To get the kinetic energy of laminar flow in a tube, an average of the square of the
velocity must be taken to account for the velocity profile.


The average of the square of the speed is given by

The average kinetic energy per unit volume of the flowing fluid can be expressed
in terms of the fluid density and the maximum flow velocity v
m
.

Velocity Relationship, Tube Flow
The nature of viscosity is such that successive lamina in the tube exert forces on
each other according to the viscous force relationship:

When a pressure gradient dP/dx drives a section of lamina of length x at constant
velocity, the force equation takes the form:

For a short segment x of a given lamina, dA = 2r dr and the forces take the form
shown. This leads to an equation for the velocity in the tube.
Velocity Equation, Tube Flow

Collecting terms gives the velocity equation in terms of radius r.

Velocity Profile for Tube Flow
The relationship governing the velocity as a function of distance r from the center
of a tube under conditions of laminar flow is:

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The general form of the solution to this differential equation is v = A + Br
2
where A
and B are constants which must be fit to the boundary condition of the flow: v=0 at
r=R. Substituting the general solution by taking the derivatives gives:

Velocity Profile for Tube Flow
Under conditions of laminar flow, the nature of viscosity dictates a flow profile
where the velocity increases toward the center of the tube as illustrated.

Fluid Potential Energy
The potential energy of a moving fluid is more useful in applications like
theBernoulli equation when is expressed as potential energy per unit volume

The energy density of a fluid can be expressed in terms of this potential energy
density along with kinetic energy density and fluid pressure.

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