TITLE

Bernoulli’s Theorem.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the validity of the Bernoulli’s Equation when applied to the steady flow of water
in a tapered duct.

INTRODUCTION

Bernoulli’s principle tells us that windows tend to explode rather than implode when
hurricanes. During the hurricanes, a very high speed of air outside the window leading to low
air pressure compare to inside, which the air is still. The differences of forces causing the
windows push outward and explode. That it is why to better open all windows during the
hurricane (Ariena, 2014).

Another example of Bernoulli’s principle application is to determine the flow speed of

a fluid. The devices such as venturi meter or an orifice plate is used and can be placed into a
pipeline to reduce the diameter of the flow. The reduction in diameter will cause an increase in
the fluid flowspeed, thus according to Bernoulli’s there must be decrease in pressure (Ariena,
2014).

In his book, Daniel Bernoulli states that “as the speed of a moving fluid (liquid or gas)
increases, the pressure within the fluid decreases. He comes up this principle and published in
his book Hydrodynamica in 1738. The book describes the theory of water flowing through a
tube and water flowing from a hole in a container which explained the hydronomic pressure
(Hashim, 2015).

In order to demonstrate the Bernoulli‟s principle, Model F1-10, the Bernoulli’s

Theorem Demonstration apparatus is used. The apparatus consist of a classical Venturi made
of clear acrylic. A series of wall tapping allow measurement of the static pressure distribution
along the converging duct, while a total head tube is provided to transverse along the centre
line of the test section. These tapings are connected to a manometer bank incorporating a
manifold with air bleed valve. Pressurization of the manometers is facilitated by a hand pump.
This unit has been designed to be used with Hydraulics Bench for students to study the
characteristics of flow through both converging and diverging sections. During the experiment,

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water is fed through a hose connector and students may control the flow rate of the water by
adjusting a flow regulator valve at the outlet of the test section (Ariena, 2014).

The Bernoulli’s equation represents the conservation of mechanical energy for a steady,
incompressible, frictionless flow:-

𝑝1 𝑣1² 𝑝2 𝑣2² Equation 1

+ + 𝑧1 = + + 𝑧2
𝜌𝑔 2𝑔 𝜌𝑔 2𝑔

Where:

P = static pressure detected at a side hole, without disturbing the flow (Pa)

v = velocity (m/s)

ρ=density (kg/m³)

g= gravitational acceleration (m/s²)

z = elevation (m)

The velocity is calculated using the formula below:

𝑄𝑣 𝑚 Equation 2
𝑣= ( )
𝐴 𝑠

Where:

Qv = flow rate (m³/s)

A = cross-sectional area (m²)

The dynamic head is calculated using the formula below:

𝑣²
𝐷𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑 = (𝑚) Equation 3
2𝑔

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Where:

v = velocity (m/s)

g = gravitational acceleration (m/s²)

The total head is calculated using the formula below:

ℎ° = 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 + 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, ℎ˚ (𝑚) Equation 4

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 MATERIALS

1) The F1-10 Hydraulics Bench which allows us to measure flow by timed volume
collection.
2) The F1-15 Bernoulli’s Apparatus Test Equipment.
3) A stopwatch for timing the flow measurement.

EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION

Air Bleed
Screw

Manometer

Discharge
Valve
Test Section
Gland Nut

Water Inlet Hypodermic

Probe
Unions
Adjustable
Feet
Figure 1: Bernoulli’s Apparatus Set Up.

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METHOD

A. Equipment Set Up

The test-section is ensured to

The base of the Bernoulli
have a 14 degree tapered section
equation apparatus is set up to be
converging in the direction of
horizontal.
flow.

The bench valve and the

The rig outflow tube is
apparatus flow control valve is
positioned above the volumetric
closed and the pump is
flask.Then, the rig inlet is
started.Then, the bench valve is
connected to the bench flow
gradually opened to fill the test
supply.
rig with water.

A length of smal bore tubing is

Both the bench valve and the
connected from the air valve to
rig flow control valve are
the volumetric tank.The bench
closed and the air bleed screw
valve is opened and the flow is
is opened as well as the cap
allowed to pass thorugh the
from the adjacent valve is
manometer to purge all air from
removed.
them.

The manometer levels canbe

The air bleed screw is opened to
adjusted further by using the air
allow air to enter the top f
bleed screw and the hand pump
manometers and the screw is
supplied.To retain the hand pump
retightened when the manometer
pressure, the airbleed screw must
levels reach a convenient height.
be closed after pumping.

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B. Taking a Set of Results

The readings of h1-h5 are taken after

The readings are taken at 3 flow
the levels in the manometer has have
rates.The first set of readings are
steadied.A timed volume collection
taken at the maximum flow rate,then
should be carried out to determine
the volume flow rate is reduced to
the volume flow rate by closing the
give h1-h5,head difference of about
ball valve and measuring the time
50 mm.The whole process is
taken to accumulate a known
repeated to one futher flow rate.
volume of fluid in the tank.

The total pressure head All measurements should be made

distribution by transversing the at 1 cm intervals along the test-
total pressure probe along the section length until the end of (21
length of the test section. degree) section.

The total pressure probe is fully

withdrawn from the test-section.The
two couplings is unscrewed, the test-
section is removed and reversed by
tightening the coupling.

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 DATA COLLECTION

Table 1: Experimental results of Bernoulli’s Theorem.

Volume Collected,V Time (s) Flowrate,Qv Distance Area of Static Head,h (m) Velocity,V Dynamic Head Total Head,h˚
(m³) t1 t2 t3 taverage (m³/s) into Duct (m) Duct, A (m²) 1 2 3 ave reading (m/s) (m) (m)
1 h1 0.00 4.9E-04 0.135 0.110 0.103 0.116 0.152 0.001 0.117
2 h2 0.0603 1.5E-04 0.120 0.100 0.093 0.104 0.493 0.012 0.117
3 0.005 60.53 66.65 73.34 66.84 7.48055E-05 h3 0.0687 1.1E+03 0.105 0.085 0.080 0.090 0.684 0.024 0.114
4 h4 0.0732 9.0E-05 0.085 0.075 0.070 0.077 0.832 0.035 0.112
5 h5 0.0811 7.9E-05 0.050 0.050 0.050 0.050 0.953 0.046 0.096
6 h6 0.01415 4.9E-04 0.085 0.070 0.069 0.075 0.152 0.001 0.076
1 h1 0.00 4.9E-04 0.165 0.15 0.145 0.153 0.134 0.001 0.154
2 h2 0.0603 1.5E-04 0.155 0.14 0.135 0.143 0.432 0.009 0.153
3 0.005 69.89 76.5 82.34 76.24 6.55795E-05 h3 0.0687 1.1E+03 0.145 0.13 0.126 0.134 0.599 0.018 0.152
4 h4 0.0732 9.0E-05 0.135 0.12 0.118 0.124 0.730 0.027 0.151
5 h5 0.0811 7.9E-05 0.100 0.100 0.100 0.100 0.835 0.036 0.136
6 h6 0.1415 4.9E-04 0.135 0.115 0.115 0.122 0.134 0.001 0.123
1 h1 0.00 4.9E-04 0.200 0.190 0.195 0.195 0.120 0.001 0.196
2 h2 0.0603 1.5E-04 0.190 0.185 0.180 0.185 0.389 0.008 0.193
3 0.005 82.22 81.84 90.15 84.74 5.90063E-05 h3 0.0687 1.1E+03 0.180 0.175 0.173 0.176 0.533 0.014 0.190
4 h4 0.0732 9.0E-05 0.170 0.167 0.165 0.167 0.656 0.022 0.189
5 h5 0.0811 7.9E-05 0.150 0.150 0.150 0.150 0.751 0.029 0.179
6 h6 0.1415 4.9E-04 0.170 0.165 0.165 3.000 0.120 0.001 3.001

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ANALYSIS

The diameter of the tapping and the static head are converted into meters, m and the volume of
water collected in the tank are converted into litres using the conversion below:

1mm = 0.001 m

1m³ = 1000 L

Since the procedure is repeated for three times, the average value is calculated for the time
taken to collect water in the tank and for the static head. Static Height is the maximum height
reached by the pipe after the pump (also known as the 'discharge head') ("Total dynamic head",
2016).The velocity of the flow in the tapping is calculated using Equation 2. The Dynamic
Head which is the vertical distance through which a liquid would have to fall to attain
a given velocity ("Definition of DYNAMIC HEAD", 1828) is calculated using Equation
3 whereas the total head which is the summation of static and dynamic head is
calculated using which is the and the Total Head are calculated using Equation 4 .All the
calculations are done in Excel Worksheet.

Table Analysis

Based on the values obtained from the calculations above, the relationship between the distance
into the duct and the static head showed similar pattern for all the sets of reading that is, when
the distance into the duct increases, the static head decreases until point E and then it increases
back to be closer or same as point A. This is due to the unique size of the Venturi meter tapping
as shown in Figure 2. The deeper the distance of the water into the duct, the diameter and the
area of the duct decreases until point E but at point F the diameter and the area of the duct is
the same as the diameter and the area at point A.

Figure 2: Cross-sectional view of the Venturi.

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 This can be explained through the Bernoulli’s Equation which states that when the
velocity of the fluid increases, the pressure decreases whereas when the fluid reduces in
velocity or in stagnant, the pressure increases. Therefore, as mentioned earlier the smaller the
cross-sectional area in the duct, the higher the velocity of the fluid that flows through the duct,
which resulted in a pressure drop and explains the decrease in the static head reading on the
manometer. Therefore, The Bernoulli’s Equation is indeed valid in this experiment. However,
the static head at point F showed the almost the same value as point A because the cross-
sectional area of the duct at point h6 is the same as the cross sectional area of the duct at point
A. Based on the table provided earlier, the highest velocity that is recorded based on the
Bernoulli’s Equation for all the three sets of the experiments is at point E this is because the
diameter of the duct is the smallest at point E which is 10.0 mm.

Another relationship that can be found in Table 1 is that when the static head decreases
from point A to E, the dynamic head increases simultaneously. This is because when the
velocity of the fluid increases along the duct, the static pressure drops as mentioned earlier
which causes the dynamic head which is the vertical distance through which a liquid would
have to fall to attain a given velocity increases as it needs to fall for a greater distance as the
pressure is lost. However, the overall head of the fluid that passed through the duct increases
from the point A to E.

Error Analysis

The probable sources of error in this lab include intrinsic error in calculating the
volumetric flow rate when measuring the time with the stopwatch and systematic error in the
Bernoulli Test Section in maintaining the steady flow, especially in the original Manometer,
h5. Also prevalent in this experiment was parallax error in reading the height of water up the
manometer. Students’ eyes should be at meniscus when taking reading from the manometer
("Error Analysis Probable sources of error in this lab include intrinsic", 2009).

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CONCLUSION

Based on the experiment conducted, point A to E are of different cross-sections for the
duct. These differences resulted in the difference of the values obtained for the velocity, static
head , dynamic head and the total head of the fluid flowing through the duct. By using the
Bernoulli equation, it can be said that the velocity of fluid increase as the fluid is flowing from
a wider to narrower tube and vice versa. This also indicates that the pressure of fluid decreases
as the velocity increases. The Bernoulli’s principle is proven in this experiment as the highest
velocity, 0.953 m/s is achieved at cross section of point E of the Venturi because of its small
duct diameter. As for the larger duct diameter at A, the velocity is the lowest which is 0.152
m/s for the first set of the readings where the height of the h5 is fixed at 50mm.

All in all, this lab can be considered to be successful as we were able to verify the
validity of Bernoulli’s Equation when applied to the steady flow of water in a tapered duct.
Although our values were not perfect due to the errors explained in the Results section, we
were within reasonable experimental error and the pattern of the values was similar to patterns
obtainable by applying Bernoulli’s Equation.

RECOMMENDATION

In order to obtain an accurate set of data, there are a few recommendations and
precautions that should be taken during the experiment. Firstly, the eyes of the observer may
not be parallel to the scale and will cause parallax error. To prevent this from happening during
the experiment, the eyes of the observer must be perpendicular to the reading scale (Hashim,
2015). Secondly, the factors such as temperature, pressure and other things especially for the
air bubble inside the tubes should be stabilized first before conducting the experiment
for accurate results (Hashim, 2015). Lastly, the reading of the venture meter level can be taken
for more than three times and average values should be calculated in order to get an accurate
value.

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REFERENCES

1. Ariena, A. (2014). Bernoulli's Principle Demonstration (Lab Report) | Pressure. Scribd.

Retrieved 15 April 2017, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/246653261/Bernoulli-s-Principle-
Demonstration-Lab-Report
2. Total dynamic head. (2016). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dynamic_head
3. Definition of DYNAMIC HEAD. (1828). Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dynamic%20head
4. hashim, m. (2015). Bernoulli's Theorem Experiment - Documents. Documents.tips. Retrieved
16 April 2017, from http://documents.tips/documents/bernoullis-theorem-experiment.html
5. Error Analysis Probable sources of error in this lab include intrinsic. (2009). Coursehero.com.
Retrieved 16 April 2017, from https://www.coursehero.com/file/p147ajh/Error-Analysis-
Probable-sources-of-error-in-this-lab-include-intrinsic-error-in/

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 APPENDIX
 Lab manual

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