A.

The Equation of Continuity Conservation of Mass

We begin our discussion of fluid dynamics by examining the simplest case of
fluid flow: laminar flow with constant velocity in a uniform pipe. In the diagram
below a fluid of density d flows through a uniform pipe of Area A with velocity v.

One property of interest is the amount of mass passing through area A over unit
time. Since this is simply the rate at which mass passes through the pipe, we
can immediately write


To find what determines this flow rate examine the following diagram. Let us
assume that in time t all mass contained in the shaded volume V will pass
through area A. Let the length of this cylindrical section of fluid be L.

Now the flow rate is simply m/t. We can use the expression for density to write m
= dV. This gives the relation

Now we know that the volume of water in this cylinder is simply the product of the
length of the cylinder and its base area, V = AL. So we can write

But the quantity L/t is simply the rate at which distance is covered by the fluid,
that is, the fluids velocity.



So we have an expression for the rate at which mass flows in terms of the
velocity of fluid flow, density of the fluid and area of the pipe in which the fluid is
flowing. This result is very reasonable.