Research Questions

1. What is the Bernoulli effect? Give some history, an explanation of what it is, and how
it is applied.
2. Design an experiment that we can do at school to demonstrate the Bernoulli effect.

1. The Bernoulli effect states the following:

“Within a horizontal flow of liquid, points of higher fluid speed will have less pressure
than points of slower fluid speed.”

The inverse correlation between speed and water in a tube may sound counterintuitive, as
people associate high speeds with high pressures, this isn’t the case with a horizontal tube
which changes diameter. This makes more sense when taking other physics principles into
account.

According to the equation of continuity and the conservation of mass, in order for water to
maintain a constant drip rate (x liters / x minutes), as the molecules can’t condense, the
molecules therefore must move at a faster rate for molecules to get through in the specified
time. When incompressible fluids travel in a narrow, constricted part of a tube, they gain
kinetic energy.

The equation of continuity states that for an incompressible fluid flowing in a tube of
varying cross-section, the mass flow rate is the same everywhere in the tube.
The equation that explains the Bernoulli effect is:

This theory was created in 1738. In the 1730s, Bernoulli conducted experiments in the
conservation of energy using liquids, observing how water flows through pipes of varying
diameter. In a segment of pipe with a relatively large diameter, he observed, water flowed
slowly, but as it entered a segment of smaller diameter, its speed increased.

“Bernoulli simply took the intuitive idea of "more pressure behind than in front means the
fluid will accelerate", quantified the pressure and speed using Newton's second law (F= ma)
to get an intermediate equation, and then and used calculus to integrate that equation to get
the equation we're familiar with today.” But if you think of it as "pressure differences cause
the fluid to accelerate and gain speed" it's obvious why it works.”

I found this explanation of the higher pressure in the larger section of pipe a very useful way
of visualising the work of forces in a horizontal pipe:

“In a steady flow thru a pipe system the pressure gradient force is balanced by the fluid ́s
viscosity (simplified). If the fluid approaches a narrowing in the pipe system the fluid near
the wall will alter flow vector toward the center causing a pressure build-up.
The fluid particles before the pipe narrowing is flowing in parallel, and parallel to the pipe
wall. Although particles do collide in the parallel flow they don’t exchange much
energy.When the tube wall start converging toward the parallel flow particles near the wall
will change velocity vector both in speed and direction and particles will collide and
exchange energy at a much higher rate and magnitude than in the parallel flow, creating a
frictional effect. The pressure build-up before the narrowing is causing a stronger pressure
gradient force compared to other sections of the pipe system and that is what accelerates
the fluid.”

“An increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure”

A smaller area = less particles = less pressure

2. To demonstrate this effect in the classroom, we could use tubing to witness the effect at
work, maybe with food dye in the water to more clearly visualise how it flows?