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Laminar and turbulent flow in

water
H G Riveros1 and D Riveros-Rosas2
1
Institute of Physics, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria,
Mexico, D.F., Mexico
2
Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

E-mail: riveros@fisica.unam.mx

Abstract
There are many ways to visualize flow, either for laminar or turbulent flows.
A very convincing way to show laminar and turbulent flows is by the
perturbations on the surface of a beam of water coming out of a cylindrical
tube. Photographs, taken with a flash, show the nature of the flow of water in
pipes. They clearly show the difference between turbulent and laminar flow,
and let, in an accessible way, data be taken to analyse the conditions under
which both flows are present. We found research articles about turbulence
measurements, using sophisticated equipment, but they do not use the
perturbation of the free surface of the flowing liquid to show or measure the
turbulence.

Introduction
The problem of transporting water through pipes
exists since this is the way it is distributed to
communities; if the water is moving without
friction (viscosity) it could be distributed with very
little energy dissipation. The viscosity opposes the
motion of a layer of water over another, and acts
as a friction force, transferring part of the energy
of flow into thermal energy.
The differential equations for flow have
two solutions: either time-independent or timedependent. In the first case, the fluid velocity
is constant in time at each point, and the
corresponding flow is called laminar. If the
velocity changes over time, the flow is turbulent;
in this case, the solutions correspond either to
the stationary or transient state. There are many
techniques for flow visualization [1], most of them
based on the dispersion of light produced by tracer
particles or gas bubbles. We use the shape of the
surface of a cylindrical water beam, smooth for
laminar flow or rough for turbulent flow [2]. The
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45 (3)

roughness grows with the turbulence as measured

by the Reynolds number.
The volume flow rate  through a surface S is
calculated knowing the velocity of the fluid at each
point of the surface to calculate the integral:

 = v dS.
(1)
This equation can be easily integrated when the
velocity is constant over the surface S:  =
vS . However, to achieve a constant velocity on
a surface is not easy. Instead, we can measure
the flow in the tube and then divide by its area
to obtain the average velocity of the water. To
move a cylindrical segment of water inside a hose,
one needs to apply a pressure difference between
its ends to compensate for the effects of viscosity
that oppose its motion. For laminar flows, the
water velocity next to the tube wall is zero and
maximum at its centre, a result that is obtained
by considering a cylinder of water interacting and
pressure applied to its ends. Thus, a steady state

0031-9120/10/030288+04$30.00 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd

Laminar and turbulent flow in water

is reached some time after applying pressure. The
maximum speed and the speed at each point are
proportional to the applied pressure difference and
flow is proportional to pressure. If the pressure is
increased substantially, the speeds of the different
regions of the water will change continually in
magnitude and direction, resulting in a turbulent
flow in which each point is changing its velocity
with time. Turbulence increases with increasing
pressure. If the flow is laminar, the pressure
difference between the ends is proportional to
water flow; and if the flow is turbulent, the pressure
difference is proportional to the square of the flow.
The Reynolds number (Re = v D/) helps us to
identify the type of flow we have: if its value is
less than 2300 the flow is laminar and if greater
than 4000 the flow is turbulent (in cylindrical
pipes). Between 2300 and 4000 it is considered
a transition regime. If we express the density ,
velocity v , the diameter D and viscosity in the
same system of units, the Re Reynolds number has
no units. The velocity v is the velocity averaged
over the area of the tube and is easily measured
by measuring the volume flowing in a certain
time; the flow/area gives us the average speed.
For laminar flow, equation (1) can be integrated
and we obtain the Poiseuille law, stating that the
pressure difference between the ends of the tube is
proportional to flow:

P = 8L/r 4

(2)

where is viscosity, L is the length of the tube,

 is the flow, and r is the inner radius of the tube
through which fluid flows. For a turbulent flow, a
different expression for a horizontal tube is found:

P = Lv 2 /4r = L2 /4 2r 5

(3)

where is the coefficient of friction of DArcy

Weisbach [3], is the density, v is the velocity
and  is the flow. We see that the pressure
difference is proportional to the square of the
flow , if we neglect the change in with flow
rate. Equation (3) applies to steady-state flow of
an incompressible fluid. The friction coefficient
depends on whether the flow is laminar,
transitional or turbulent, and the roughness of the
tube. Usually, to observe laminar flow, ink or air
bubbles have been used; turbulent flow is detected
by the light scattered by small particles suspended
in the fluid. We present a new way to observe the
May 2010

Figure 1. Photographs taken with a 2 megapixel digital

camera with flash. The flows are laminar.

turbulent flows coming out of tubes into the air, as

perturbations in the surface exposed to air in the
fluid. Turbulence implies chaotic movements in
small volumes within the fluid. When those small
volumes reach the surface, the surface tension of
the liquid returns them to the beam, but the surface
must be deformed for this to be achieved; the effect
can be seen in high speed photographs taken with
flash to freeze motion.

Experiments
The photos in figures 13 display the flow for a
variety of Reynolds numbers calculated for the
flow at the mouth of the tube. As the diameter
of the water beam changes, so does the Reynolds
number.
Laminar flows do not disturb the surface in
points throughout said flow; the changes observed
are due to the attempts of the superficial tension
force to reduce the area by forming smaller
diameter drops. However, on increasing the
rate of the flow to reach turbulent regimes, the
photographs clearly show the disturbances at the
free surface of the water beam.
In the photographs in figure 2 there is
an increment in the turbulence, shown as
deformations in the surface of the water beam. The
beam surface is deformed by changes in speed of
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H G Riveros and D Riveros-Rosas

Figure 2. On increasing the flow rate, the water beam

changed to a turbulent flow. Note that the surface
tension prevents the turbulence breaking the beam into
drops.

the internal portions of the water beam, which are

arrested by the surface tension of the water.
In the case in which the initial flow is
horizontal, there are similar figures that change
with turbulence, and we can observe the same
general characteristics as for vertical flow. First we
can observe changes in output speed, resulting in
changes in the path of the water beam, and finally
we can see turbulent deformations observed on the
surface of the water beam. This is indicative of the
turbulence in the internal portions. In this case, the
flow can be measured by taking the time it takes to
fill a container or by the equation of the parabola
corresponding to the water path [4].
With a horizontal tube, measuring the height
Y of the tube (above the table) and the horizontal
distance X travelled by the water beam (on the
table), we can calculate the horizontal speed V
at the mouth of the tube. The falling time T is
obtained from Y = gT 2 /2 and V = X/T ; then
the water flow is calculated as V A, where A is
the internal area of the tube. Using this procedure
we obtain a flow of (6.46 0.12) l min1 and
measuring the volume collected in a given time the
flow was (6.35 0.14) l min1 . Both values are
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Figure 3. Photographs of the turbulence in a horizontal

water beam; they show how the Reynolds number
increases with water speed.

in agreement, within the respective experimental

uncertainty.
From figures 13, we can conclude that the
flow of water in the pipes that we use is generally
turbulent and therefore the pressure drop between
the ends is not proportional to water flow.
Turbulence implies that different regions
within the water beam have different magnitudes
and directions of velocity; with changes in the
pressure or violent changes in direction such
as those introduced by a change of 90 in the
direction of the velocity. Figure 4 shows two flows
with the same water speed, but flowing through
the straight portion of a T-junction, or bending 90
using the other arm of the T-junction.
May 2010

Laminar and turbulent flow in water

Water driven for a piston pump

Figure 5. Photograph of a water beam powered by a

piston pump. We can see clearly noticeable changes in
the output speed. The maximum pressure produces the
upper parabolic path and the minimum produces the
lower.

with extraordinary clarity is the relation between

the Reynolds number and the kind of flow regime
observed at the water beam and the transition from
a laminar to a turbulent flow.

Acknowledgment
We thank the reviewer who improved our article
with many useful suggestions.
Received 18 January 2010, in final form 16 February 2010
doi:10.1088/0031-9120/45/3/010

b
Figure 4. (a) A water beam passing through the straight
section of a T-junction. (b) A water beam at the same
rate of flow, after being deflected 90 in the T-junction.

Driving the water with a piston pump,

the pressure changes between maximum and
minimum values, both of which diminish as the
water travels through the hose. Figure 5 shows
the change in the water path at the outlet of the
hose. Note that the maximum pressure produces
a high velocity jet at the exit, which produces
the parabola joining the maxima in the jet. The
minimum follows a parabola below. The water
beam is held together by cohesion and by the
surface tension force.

References
[1] Clayton B R and Massey B S 1967 J. Sci. Instrum.
44 211
[2] Sears F W, Zemansky M W and Young H D 1985
College Physics (Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley) p 275
[3] www.engineeringtoolbox.com/
darcy-weisbach-equation-d 646.html
[4] Castro P M, Delfino A, Vieira E and Faria V A
2000 Pin-hole water flow from cylindrical
bottles Phys. Educ. 35 1109
H G Riveros has been a researcher at the
Instituto de Fsica de la Universidad
Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)
since 1963. He has written several books
and designed many experiments and
demonstrations. He writes the column
Los Placeres del Pensamiento in the
Bulletin of the Mexican Physical Society.

Conclusions
Photographs provide a very graphical way to show
the turbulence in a fluid flowing in a beam in
the open air. The deformation at a point in the
surface of the beam shows the chaotic behaviour
of an internal portion of the fluid. Also shown
May 2010

D Riveros-Rosas is a physicist from the

Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico (UNAM) and obtained his PhD
in 2008 in the energy area. He has written
several books in physics education and is
a researcher at the Geophysics Institute at
the UNAM.
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