Fluid Mechanics I

EMEC3300

Tutorial 1

Introduction and Basic Fluid Properties

1. The pressure difference ∆𝑃 across a partial blockage in an artery (called a stenosis) is

2
𝜇𝑉 𝐴0
∆𝑃 = 𝐾𝜐 + 𝐾𝑢 ( − 1) 𝜌 𝑉 2
𝐷 𝐴1

where 𝑉 is the blood velocity, 𝜌 the blood density, 𝐷 the artery diameter, 𝐴0 the area of the
unobstructed artery, and 𝐴1 the area of the stenosis. Determine the dimensions of the constants 𝐾𝜐
and 𝐾𝑢 . Would this equation be valid in any system of units.

2. A formula for estimating the volume rate of flow 𝑄 over the spillway of a dam is

𝑄 = 𝐶 √2 𝑔 𝐵 (𝐻 + 𝑉 2 ⁄2𝑔)3⁄2

where 𝐶 is a constant, 𝑔 the acceleration of gravity, 𝐵 the spillway width, 𝐻 the depth of water
passing over the spillway, and 𝑉 the velocity of water just upstream of the dam. Would this
equation be valid in any system of units? Explain.

3. Express the following quantities in SI units: (a) 10.2 in⁄min, (b) 4.81 slugs, (c) 3.02 lb , (d) 73.1 ft⁄s 2 ,
(e) 0.0234 lb.s⁄ft 2 .
[Answer: (a) 𝟒. 𝟑𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝒎⁄𝒔, (b) 𝟕𝟎. 𝟐 𝒌𝒈, (c) 𝟏𝟑. 𝟒 𝑵, (d) 𝟐𝟐. 𝟑 𝒎⁄𝒔𝟐, (e) 𝟏. 𝟏𝟐 𝑵. 𝒔⁄𝒎𝟐 ]

4. Express the following quantities in BG units: (a) 14.2 𝑘𝑚, (b) 8.14 𝑁⁄𝑚3 , (c) 1.61 𝑘𝑔⁄𝑚3 , (d)
0.032 𝑁𝑚⁄𝑠 , (e) 5.67 𝑚𝑚⁄ℎ𝑟 .

[Answer: (a) 𝟒. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟒 ft, (b) 𝟓. 𝟏𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 lb⁄ft 𝟑, (c) 𝟑. 𝟏𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 slugs⁄ft 𝟑, (d)

𝟐. 𝟑𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 ft.lb⁄𝒔, (e) 𝟓. 𝟏𝟕 ft⁄𝒔]

5. Express the following quantities in SI units: (a) 160 acre, (b) 742 Btu, (c) 240 miles , (d) 79.1 hp, (e)
60.3 𝐹 𝑜 .
[Answer: (a) 𝟔. 𝟒𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒎𝟐 , (b) 𝟕. 𝟖𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟓 𝑱, (c) 𝟑. 𝟖𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟓 𝒎, (d) 𝟓. 𝟗𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟒 𝑾, (e) 𝟐𝟖𝟗 𝑲]

6. Clouds can weigh thousands of pounds due to their liquid water content. Often this content is
measured in grams per cubic meter. Assume that a cumulus cloud occupies a volume of one cubic
kilometer, and its liquid water content is 0.2 𝑔⁄𝑚3 . (a) What is the volume of this cloud in cubic
miles? (b) How much the water in the cloud weigh in pounds?
[Answer: (a) 𝟎. 𝟐𝟒 𝒎𝒊𝟑 , (b) 𝟒. 𝟒𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎𝟓 lb]

7. Water flows from a large drainage pipe at a rate of 1200 gal⁄min. What is the volume flow rate in
(a) 𝑚3 ⁄𝑠, (b) liters⁄𝑚𝑖𝑛 , and (c) ft 3 ⁄𝑠 ?
[Answer: (a) 𝟕. 𝟓𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 𝒎𝟑 ⁄𝒔, (b) 𝟒𝟓𝟒𝟎 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔⁄𝒎𝒊𝒏, (c) 𝟐. 𝟔𝟕 ft 𝟑⁄𝒔]

8. A tank of oil has a mass of 30 slugs. (a) Determine its weight in pound and in Newtons at the earth
surface. (b) What would be its mass in slugs and its weight in pounds if located on the moon
surface where the gravitational attraction is approximately one-sixth that at the earth’s surface?
[Answer: (a) 𝟒𝟐𝟗𝟎 𝑵, (b) 𝟏𝟔𝟏 lb]

1
9. An important dimensionless parameter in certain types of fluid flow problems is the Froude number
defined as 𝑉 ⁄√𝑔 𝐿 , where 𝑉 is the velocity, 𝑔 the acceleration of gravity, and 𝐿 the length.
Determine the value of the Froude number for 𝑉 = 10 ft⁄s , 𝑔 = 32.2 ft⁄s 2 , and 𝐿 = 2 ft . Recalculate
Froude number using SI units for the same given values of velocity, acceleration of gravity, and
length. Explain the significance of the results of these calculations.
[Answer: 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓]

10. The specific weight of a certain liquid is 85.3 lb⁄ft 3 . Determine its density and specific gravity.
[Answer: 𝟐. 𝟔𝟓 slugs⁄ft 𝟑 , 1.37]

11. A hydrometer is used to measure the specific gravity of liquids. For a certain liquid a hydrometer
reading indicates a specific gravity of 1.15 . What is the liquid’s density and specific weight? Express
your answer in SI units.
[Answer: 𝟏𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝒌𝒈⁄𝒎𝟑 , 𝟏𝟏. 𝟑 𝒌𝑵⁄𝒎𝟑 ]

12. A liquid when poured into a graduated cylinder is found to weigh 8 𝑁 when occupying a volume of
500 𝑚𝑙 (mill-liter). Determine its specific weight, density, and specific gravity.
[Answer: 𝟏𝟔. 𝟎 𝒌𝑵⁄𝒎𝟑 , 𝟏. 𝟔𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑 𝒌𝒈⁄𝒎𝟑 , 𝟏. 𝟔𝟑]

13. The density of oxygen is contained in a tank is 2.0 𝑘𝑔⁄𝑚3 when the temperature is 25 𝐶 𝑜 . Determine
the gage pressure of the gas if the atmospheric pressure is 97 𝑘𝑃𝑎 .
[Answer: 𝟓𝟖 𝒌𝑷𝒂]

14. Some experiments are being conducted in a laboratory in which the air temperature is 27 𝐶 𝑜 , and
the atmospheric pressure is 14.3 psia. Determine the density the air. Express your answer in slugs⁄ft 3
and in 𝑘𝑔⁄𝑚3 .
[Answer: 𝟏. 𝟏𝟒 𝒌𝒈⁄𝒎𝟑 ]

15. A closed tank having a volume of 2 ft 3 is filled with 0.30 lb of gas. A pressure gage attached to the
tank reads 12 psi when the gas temperature is 80 𝐹 𝑜 . There is some question as whether the gas in
the tank is oxygen or helium. Which do you think it is? Explain how you arrived at your answer.
[Answer: Oxygen]

16. The viscosity of a certain fluid is 5 × 10−4 poise. Determine its viscosity in both SI and BG units.
[Answer: 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝑵. 𝒔⁄𝒎𝟐 , 𝟏𝟎. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟕 1b.s⁄ft 𝟐 ]

17. The kinematic viscosity of oxygen at 20 𝐶 𝑜 and a pressure of 150 𝑘𝑃𝑎 (abs) is 0.104 stokes. Determine
the dynamic viscosity of oxygen at this temperature and pressure.
[Answer: 𝟐. 𝟎𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝑵. 𝒔⁄𝒎𝟐 ]

18. Calculate the Reynolds numbers for the flow of water and for air through a 4 𝑚𝑚 diameter tube, if
the mean velocity is 3 𝑚⁄𝑠 and the temperature is 30 𝐶 𝑜 in both cases. Assume the air is at
standard atmospheric pressure.
[Answer: 𝟏𝟓, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 , 𝟕𝟓𝟐]

19. For air at standard atmospheric pressure the values of the constants that appear in the Sutherland
equation are 𝐶 = 1.458 × 10−6 𝑘𝑔⁄𝑚. 𝑠. 𝐾 1⁄2 and 𝑆 = 110.4 𝐾 . Use these values to predict the viscosity
of air at 10 𝐶 𝑜 and 90 𝐶 𝑜 .
[Answer: 𝟏. 𝟕𝟔𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝑵. 𝒔⁄𝒎𝟐 , 𝟐. 𝟏𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟓 𝑵. 𝒔⁄𝒎𝟐 ]

20. A Newtonian fluid having a specific gravity of 0.92 and a kinetic viscosity of 4 × 10−4 𝑚2 ⁄𝑠 flows past
a fixed surface. Due to the no-slip condition, the velocity at the fixed surface is zero and the
velocity profile near the surface is shown in the figure below. Determine the magnitude and
direction of the shearing stress developed on the plate. Express your answer in terms of 𝑈 and 𝛿,
with 𝑈 and 𝛿 expressed in units of meters per second and meters, respectively.

2
 [Answer: 𝟎. 𝟓𝟓𝟐 𝑼⁄𝜹 𝑵⁄𝒎𝟐 , Acting to left]

21. When a viscous fluid flows past a thin sharp-edged plate, a thin layer adjacent to the plate surface
develops in which the velocity 𝑢 changes rapidly from zero to the approached velocity 𝑈 in a small
distance 𝛿. This layer is called a boundary layer. The thickness of this layer increases with the
distance 𝑥 along the plate as shown in the figure below. Assume that 𝑢 = 𝑈 𝑦⁄𝛿 and 𝛿 = 3.5 √𝜈 𝑥 ⁄𝑈
where 𝜈 is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Determine an expression for the force (drag) that
would be developed on the side of the plate of length 𝑙 and width 𝑏 . Express your answer in terms
of 𝑙, 𝑏 , 𝜈 , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜌 where 𝜌 is the fluid density.
[Answer: 𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟏 𝒃𝝆√𝝂 𝒍 𝑼𝟑 ]

22. One type of rotating cylinder viscometer, called Stormer viscometer, uses a falling weight 𝑊 to
cause the cylinder to rotate with an angular velocity 𝜔 as shown in the figure below. For this device
the viscosity 𝜇 of the liquid is related to 𝑊 and 𝜔 through the equation 𝑊 = 𝐾 𝜇 𝜔 where 𝐾 is a
constant that depends on the geometry (including the liquid depth) of the viscometer. The value of
𝐾 is usually determined by using a calibration liquid (a liquid of known viscosity).

3
 (a) Some data for a particular Stormer viscometer, obtained using glycerin at 20 𝐶 𝑜 as a calibration
liquid, are given below. Determine 𝐾 for the viscometer.

𝑊 (lb) 0.22 0.66 1.10 1.54 2.20

[Answer: 𝟏𝟐. 𝟕 ft 𝟐 ⁄𝒓𝒆𝒗]

(b) A liquid of unknown velocity is placed in the same viscometer used in part (a), and the data
given below are obtained. Determine the viscosity of the liquid.

𝑊 (lb) 0.04 0.11 0.22 0.33 0.44

[Answer: 𝟒. 𝟕𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 lb.s⁄ft 𝟐]

23. A 12 in diameter circular plate is placed over a fixed bottom plate with a 0.1 in gap between the two
plates filled with glycerin as shown in the figure below. Determine the torque required to rotate the
circular plate slowly at 2 𝑟𝑝𝑚. Assume that the velocity distribution in the gap is linear and that the
shear stress on the edge of the rotating plate is negligible.
[Answer: 𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟕𝟐 ft.lb]