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DynamicPressure

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Animportantpropertyofanygasisitspressure.Becauseunderstandingwhatpressureisandhowitworksisso
fundamentaltotheunderstandingofaerodynamicsandpropulsion,weareincludingseveralslidesonpressureinthe
Beginner'sGuide.
Therearetwowaystolookatpressure:(1)thesmallscaleactionofindividualairmoleculesor(2)thelargescaleactionof
alargenumberofmolecules.Onthethesmallscale,fromthekinetictheoryofgases,agasiscomposedofalarge
numberofmoleculesthatareverysmallrelativetothedistancebetweenmolecules.Themoleculesofagasarein
constant,randommotionandfrequentlycollidewitheachotherandwiththewallsofanycontainer.Duringcollisionswith
thewalls,thereisachangeinvelocityandthereforeachangeinmomentumofthemolecules.Thechangeinmomentum
producesaforceonthewallswhichisrelatedtothegaspressure.Thepressureofagasisameasureoftheaverage
linearmomentumofthemovingmoleculesofagas.Onthelargescale,thepressureofagasisastatevariable,likethe
temperatureandthedensity.Thechangeinpressureduringanyprocessisgovernedbythelawsofthermodynamics.
Althoughpressureitselfisascalarquantity,wecandefineapressureforcetobeequaltothepressure(force/area)times
thesurfaceareainadirectionperpendiculartothesurface.Ifagasisstaticandnotflowing,themeasuredpressureisthe
sameinalldirections.Butifthegasismoving,themeasuredpressuredependsonthedirectionofmotion.Thisleadsto
thedefinitionofthedynamicpressure.
Tounderstanddynamicpressure,webeginwithaonedimensionalversionoftheconservationoflinearmomentumfora
fluid.
r*u*du/dx=dp/dx
whereristhedensityofthegas,pisthepressure,xisthedirectionoftheflow,anduisthevelocityinthexdirection.
Performingalittlealgebra:
dp/dx+r*u*du/dx=0
Foraconstantdensity(incompressibleflow)wecantakethe"r*u"terminsidethedifferential:
dp/dx+d(.5*r*u^2)/dx=0
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11/11/2016

DynamicPressure

andthengatheralloftheterms:
d(p+.5*r*u^2)/dx=0
Integratingthisdifferentialequation:
ps+.5*r*u^2=constant=pt
ThisequationlooksexactlyliketheincompressibleformofBernoulli'sequation.Eachterminthisequationhasthe
dimensionsofapressure(force/area)psisthestaticpressure,theconstantptiscalledthetotalpressure,and
.5*r*u^2
iscalledthedynamicpressurebecauseitisapressuretermassociatedwiththevelocityuoftheflow.Dynamicpressure
isoftenassignedtheletterqinaerodynamics:
q=.5*r*u^2
Thedynamicpressureisadefinedpropertyofamovingflowofgas.Wehaveperformedthissimplederivationtodetermine
theformofthedynamicpressure,butwecanuseandapplytheideaofdynamicpressureinmuchmorecomplexflows,
likecompressibleflowsorviscousflows.Inparticular,theaerodynamicforcesactingonanobjectasitmovesthroughthe
airaredirectlyproportionaltothedynamicpressure.Thedynamicpressureisthereforeusedinthedefinitionofthelift
coefficientandthedragcoefficient.Aswehaveseen,dynamicpressureappearsinBernoulli'sequationeventhoughthat
relationshipwasoriginallyderivedusingenergyconservation.Bymeasuringthedynamicpressureinflight,apitotstatic
tube(Prandtltube)canbeusedtodeterminetheairspeedofanaircraft.
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Editor:NancyHall
NASAOfficial:NancyHall
LastUpdated:May052015
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