Brian Bain

D03148736
Professor Wessels
Physics 310

Pitot Tubes

The general definition of a Pitot tube, also known as a Prandtl, tube is a pressure
measurement instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity. A Pitot tube is basically a tool that
measures the pressure of a certain stream, current, and flow. Pilots also use the Pitot tube to
control the speed of the aircraft. Pitot tubes are very useful in the industry today, they help us
measure air and gas flow in things such as air ducts where other tools would not be practical to
put up there.

The Pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 1700s. Henri
was born in Aramon France and lived from May 3, 1695 to December 27, 1771. Henri Pitot was
a French hydraulic engineer who became interested in studying the flow of water at different
depths. Henri disproved the theory that the speed of water changes as you get into deeper water.
Pitot recognized something very significant when he was measuring water in the Seine River,
“Bring moving water to a halt and it'll drive a column of water up to exactly the height from
which water would flow to gain that velocity. (Same for air.)” (No.2213) Later, a man named
Henri Darcy, came along and made some very significant improvements to the Pitot tube. Henri
Darcy was also a French hydraulic engineer who made several contributions to hydraulics. Henri
lived from June 10, 1803 to January 3, 1858 and was born in Dijon, France. In 1848 he became
the chief engineer for the department Cote-d’Or, he soon left there and was promoted to the chief
director for water and pavements. While Henri was in this position he was able to clearly focus
on his research in hydraulics. From there he focused on flow and friction loss in pipes, this is
where he improved the design of the Pitot tube into what we use today.

The Pitot tube is a simple design, on the aircraft the tube is around 10 inches long with a
½ inch diameter. Several small holes are drilled around the outside of the tube and one big hole
is drilled down the center or the axis of the tube. The outside holes of the tube are connected to
the side of a device called a pressure transducer. A pressure transducer is a transducer that
converts pressure into an analog electrical signal. There are many different types of pressure
transducers but, one of the most common is the strain-gage base transducer. The conversion of
pressure into an electrical signal is done by the physical deformation of strain gages which are
bonded into the diaphragm of the pressure transducer and wired into a Wheatstone bridge
configuration. Once pressure is applied to the pressure transducer it produces a deflection of the
diaphragm which introduces strain to the gages. This strain will produce an electrical resistance
change proportional to the pressure. The center hole of the tube is kept separate from the outer
holes of the tube and is connected to the other side of the pressure transducer. The pressure
transducer works by measuring the difference in pressure between the two groups. This is called
the strain and it is measured using a strain gauge that sits in a very thin element. The Pitot tube
can be mounted on an aircraft or a wind tunnel such as air ducts. It is mounted with the center
hole is always pointed in the direction of the airflow and the outside holes are mounted
perpendicular to the center tube. On the next page is a diagram on how the Pitot tube works.
As you can see air flows into the center tube where it meets with the Pressure Transducer. The
air is then pushed out of the smaller holes. With a design like this we can measure many different
things such as the density, velocity and pressure of the air. It also has two different
measurements, static pressure and dynamic pressure. With these two pressures we can find the
total pressure. At the bottom of the schematic it shows us two different equations. The first
equation is used to get the total pressure. The second equation is used to get the velocity of the
air flow.
 The Pitot tube measures two different types of pressures, the static pressure and the
dynamic pressure. When we add these two pressures together we can get the total pressure or the

stagnation pressure of the system. , this equation is called the Bernoulli’s

equation and is what we would use in order to get the total pressure of the system. In this
equation V is fluid velocity, pt is stagnation or total pressure, ps is static pressure, and ρ is fluid
density. Before we can work this equation we would have to get V or the velocity.

In order to do this we would use this equation, , V is fluid velocity, pt is

stagnation or total pressure, ps is static pressure, and ρ is fluid density. The static pressure in a
Pitot tube is created from the outside holes. They run perpendicular with the direction of the air
flow and are pressurized by the local random component of the air velocity. The center tube is
pointed in the direction of the air travel and is pressurized by the random components and the air
velocity. The pressure in this chamber measures the total pressure. Below is another model of the
Pitot tube and it better explains how the Bernoulli equation works.
 In the 1700’s a man named Daniel Bernoulli investigated the forces that were present in
moving fluids. The model on the previous page shows us one of the many forms of Bernoulli’s
equation. The equation states that the static pressure plus the dynamic pressure, or one half of the
density r times the velocity V squared, will give us the constant throughout the flow. This
constant is called the total pressure.

The Pitot tube ranges in price from 60 dollars for the most basic Pitot tube to 5,450 for an
aero instruments 12V heated Pitot tube. The price is so drastic between the two due to the fact
that the basic 60 dollar one is meant for an average everyday person to use. The 5,450 Pitot tube
is meant for an airplane where maintenance is very expensive. They also differentiate in price
depending on the type of Pitot tube that you are looking to buy. The telescoping Pitot tube runs
at right about 2,950 and the s style Pitot tube is 347 dollars.

The Pitot tube was a great invention and led to even greater uses down the road. Henri
Pitot created something that proved to be very useful as time passed on. We are now using the
Pitot tube on many different aircrafts including airplanes and helicopters. The Pitot tube on these
aircrafts helps us to control the speed by measuring the total pressure. An everyday person can
purchase one of these instruments online for about 60 dollars. When they are for the aircrafts the
price increases exponentially. Without the Pitot tube we would not know how to find the total
pressure of moving winds or liquids. This invention has been able to help us greatly, especially
in aircraft travel.
 Works Cited

"Bernoulli's Equation." NASA - Title... Web. 18 Aug. 2010. <http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-

12/airplane/bern.html>.

"No. 2213: Henri Pitot." University of Houston. Web. 18 Aug. 2010.

<http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2213.htm>.

"Pitot-Static (Prandtl) Tube." NASA - Title... Web. 18 Aug. 2010. <http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-

12/airplane/pitot.html>.

"Pitot Tube - Shop Sales, Stores & Prices at TheFind.com." TheFind - Shopped & Found. Web. 18 Aug.
2010. <http://www.thefind.com/sports/info-pitot-tube#page=1&filter[sortby]=price_desc>.

"Pressure Transducers." Sensors, Thermocouple, PLC, Operator Interface, Data Acquisition, RTD. Web.

18 Aug. 2010. <http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/pressuretransducers.html>.