UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING MEASUREMENTS AND LAB

(MESB 333)

PROJECT REPORT
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRESSURE AND VELOCITY OF FLUIDS

GROUP MEMBERS:

1. ID: ME091513

NAME: PRAKASH A/L KRISHNAMURTI

2. ID: ME091512

NAME: NAVIN RAJ A/L K SAKARAN

3. ID: ME091515

NAME: THINNESH CHELVAM

4. ID: ME091919

NAME: PREMALA KRISHNAMOORTHY

5. ID: ME091751

NAME: NUR FARHANA AHMAD

SECTION

: 04A

GROUP

: 01

INSTRUCTOR

: PROF. DR.SAIFUDDIN BIN HJ. M. NOMANBHAY

Performed Date

Due Date

Submitted Date

19/08/2015

24/08/2015

24/08/2015

TABLE OF CONTENT

NO

SUBJECT

PAGE

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE

APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT

ABSTRACT AND THEORY

36

PROCEDURE

DATA, OBSERVATION AND

8-9

RESULT
6

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

10

CONCLUSION

11

REFERENCE

12

Page | 2

EXPERIMENT: VELOCITY OF FLUIDS

OBJECTIVE

To study the relationship between area, velocity and flow rate of fluid and determine
the type of the flow.
APPARATUS

1) 1500 ml bottle
2) Pail
3) 3 bottle cap with 5mm, 10mm and 15mm diameter
4) Bottle with measuring lines
5) Water
SUMMARY OF THEORY

Relationship between flow rate and diameter

Flow Rate

Flow rate is a measurement of the volume of water that flows through a pipe in a given
amount of time. Generally, flow rate is recorded in terms of gallons per minute.
Effects of Pipe Size

If the pressure behind water flow in a pipe is kept constant, the size of the pipe will
directly affect the flow rate. If the diameter of the pipe is increased, the flow rate will
decrease. Also, If the length of the pipe is increased, the flow rate will decrease due
to friction.
Considerations

Flow rate is also affected by change in a pipe's elevation, bends or curves in a pipe,
and the roughness of a pipe's surface. So while the relationship between pipe size and
flow rate is constant, size is not necessarily the deciding factor in a pipe's flow rate.

Page | 3

Relationship between velocity and area

A is the cross-sectional area and v is the average velocity. This equation seems logical
enough. The relationship tells us that flow rate is directly proportional to both the
magnitude of the average velocity (here after referred to as the speed) and the size of
a pipe. The larger the diameter, the greater its cross-sectional area.

Velocity of fluid in pipe is not uniform across section area. Therefore a mean velocity
is used and it is calculated by the continuity equation for the steady flow as:

Pipe diameter calculator

Calculate pipe diameter for known flow rate and velocity. Calculate flow velocity for
known pipe diameter and flow rate. Convert from volumetric to mass flow rate.
Calculate volumetric flow rate of ideal gas at different conditions of pressure and
temperature.
Pipe diameter can be calculated when volumetric flow rate and velocity is known as:

D - Internal pipe diameter;

q - Volumetric flow rate;
v - Velocity;
A - Pipe cross section area.

1) Flow rate can be expressed in either terms of cross sectional area and velocity, or
volume and time.
2) Because liquids are incompressible, the rate of flow into an area must equal the
rate of flow out of an area. This is known as the equation of continuity.
3) The equation of continuity can show how much the speed of a liquid increases if it
is forced to flow through a smaller area. For example, if the area of a pipe is halved,
the velocity of the fluid will double.
4) Although gases often behave as fluids, they are not incompressible the way liquids
are and so the continuity equation does not apply.

The flow rate of a fluid is the volume of fluid which passes through a surface in a given
unit of time. It is usually represented by the symbol Q.
Page | 4

Flow Rate
Volumetric flow rate is defined as:
Q= vA

Where Q is the flow rate, v is the velocity of the fluid, and A is the area of the cross
section of the space the fluid is moving through. Volumetric flow rate can also be found
with:
Q=Vt
Where Q is the flow rate, V is the Volume of fluid, and t is elapsed time.

Continuity
The equation of continuity works under the assumption that the flow in will equal the
flow out. This can be useful to solve for many properties of the fluid and its motion:

FIGURE 1

Flow in = Flow out

Using the known properties of a fluid in one condition, we can use the continuity
equation to solve for the properties of the same fluid under other conditions.
Q1=Q2
This can be expressed in many ways, for example:

A1v1=A2v2
The equation of continuity applies to any incompressible fluid. Since the fluid cannot
be compressed, the amount of fluid which flows into a surface must equal the amount
flowing out of the surface.

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Applying the Continuity Equation

You can observe the continuity equation's effect in a garden hose. The water flows
through the hose and when it reaches the narrower nozzle, the velocity of the water
increases.

Speed increases when cross-sectional area decreases, and speed

decreases when cross-sectional area increases.

This is a consequence of the

continuity equation. If the flow Q is held constant, when the area A decreases, the
velocity v must increase proportionally. For example, if the nozzle of the hose is half
the area of the hose, the velocity must double to maintain the continuous flow.

Reynolds Number
Reynolds number is a number that indicates the type of flow that a fluid undergoes.
The range of Reynolds number corresponds to the flow type is as below:
Re<2000 Laminar Flow
2000<Re<4000 Transition Flow
Re> 4000 Turbulent Flow
Formula to calculate Reynolds Number,
=

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PROCEDURE

1) Set the apparatus as shown in figure above.

2) Close the outlet of the bottle with the bottle cap with 5mm diameter in size.
3) Make sure it is tightly closed to avoid any leakage.
4) Measure 1000 ml of water using a measuring bottle.
5) Pour the 1000 ml water into the bottle through the inlet.
6) Use a finger to close the hole at the outlet of the bottle before start pouring
water into the bottle.
7) Make sure there is no water leakage at the outlet and surrounding the bottle
cap.
8) Remove the finger once the 1000 ml of water has been poured into the bottle.
9) Start the stop watch immediately after the finger is removed.
10) Measure the time required for the 1000 ml of water to flow out from the bottle
through the 5 mm outlet.
11) Record the time taken in Table 1.
12) Repeat step 2 to step 11 by using outlet with diameter 10 mm and 15 mm.
13) Dismiss the apparatus once the experiment is completed.

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DATA, OBSERVATION AND RESULTS

Diameter,

Volume,

Time, t

Flow rate,

Velocity

Kinematics

(s)

(m/s)

Viscosity

(mm)

(m)

0.001

56.0

17.8571

0.9095

0.8 X 10-6

5684

Turbulent

10

0.001

11.9

84.0336

1.0699

0.8 X 10-6

13336

Turbulent

15

0.001

5.2

192.3077

1.0882

0.8 X 10-6

20404

Turbulent

(x 10-6)

Re

Type of
flow

(m2/s)

Sample Calculation:
For Diameter 5mm;
a) Flow rate, Q
=

0.001
=
= 17.8571 106 3 1

56

b) Velocity, v
17.8571 106
= =
= 0.9095 1

4 (0.005)
c) Reynolds Number, Re
=

(0.9095)(0.005)
=
= 5684

0.8 106

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Flow Rate Against Area

Flow Rate (m/s)

2.50E-04
2.00E-04
1.50E-04
1.00E-04
5.00E-05
0.00E+00
0.00E+002.00E-034.00E-036.00E-038.00E-031.00E-021.20E-021.40E-02

Area (m)

Graph 1

Velocity Against Area

1.10E+00
1.08E+00

Velocity (m/s)

1.06E+00
1.04E+00
1.02E+00
1.00E+00
9.80E-01
9.60E-01
9.40E-01
9.20E-01
9.00E-01
0.00E+002.00E-034.00E-036.00E-038.00E-031.00E-021.20E-021.40E-02

Area (m)

Graph 2

Page | 9

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

1. The flow rate increase when the area of the outlet increase. This is due to the
time taken for the 1 litter fluids to flow decrease when the area increase.
2. Reynolds number depends on the velocity of the fluids, the diameter of the
pipe, and the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. In this experiment, the velocity
increase as the diameter increase. Thus the Reynolds number also increase.
3. The flow rate increase as the time taken for the fluid to flow decrease. The
results obtained obeys the flowrate equation.
4. From the graph of flowrate against area, we can see that the flowrate increase
as the area increase, this is due to the decrease in time of flow when the area
increase. From the graph of velocity against area, we can see that velocity
increase as the area increase. This is due to the equation of flowrate where
V 1/A.
5. Precaution
a) Make sure the hole of the outlet closed properly to avoid any leaks.
b) Pour the water inside the bottle properly and avoid any splash of water, it
can reduce the total volume of water.
Errors

a) The time taken for the liquid to completely flow maybe be not accurate
because of the stopwatch may not started on the same time as the liquid
starts to flow.
b) The volume of the water inside the bottle may not be as accurate as 1 litter
because there is some drops of water left in the bottle after the
experiment.
c) The flowrate may be affected by the slight elevation of the bottle because
it was hold by using hand and human hand may vibrate due to heavy
weight.

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CONCLUSION

The aim of this experiment is to determine the velocity of a fluid flow that corresponds
to diameter of the outlet. In this experiment the velocity of the flow calculated using

flow rate equation Q=AV and the Reynolds number calculated using equation Re = .
From the results, we can see that the velocity of flow increase as the diameter of the
outlet becomes bigger. With the increment of velocity, the Reynolds number of the
flow also increases. As from the experiment that conducted, all flows are considered
as turbulent flow because the Reynolds number that obtained is more than 4000. The
objective of the experiment is achieved.

Page | 11

REFERENCE

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli%27s_principle
2) http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/95620/relation-between-pressurevelocity-and-area

3) http://francesa.phy.cmich.edu/people/andy/physics110/book/Chapters/Chapter9
.htm

4) http://www.researchgate.net/post/Could_anyone_please_tell_about_pressure_a
nd_velocity_relationship10

5) http://www.princeton.edu/~asmits/Bicycle_web/Bernoulli.html

Page | 12