MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

FLUID MECHANICS FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERS/ ME131-2

ASSIGNMENT #1

FLUID PROPERTIES

1. The air in an automobile tire with a volume of 2.60 ft3 is at 90°F and 20 psig. Determine
the amount of air that must be added to raise the pressure to the recommended value of
30 psig. Assume the atmospheric pressure to be 14.6 psia and the temperature and the
volume to remain constant. Answer: 0.128 lbm
2. A cylindrical tank 80 cm in diameter and 90 cm high is filled with a liquid. The tank and
the liquid weighed 420 kg. The weight of the empty tank is 40 kg. Determine the
following properties of the liquid:
a. Unit weight, in kN/m3
b. Mass Density, in kg/m3
c. Specific Gravity, SG
Answer: γ = 8.24 kN/m3; ρ = 839.96 kg/m3; SG = 0.839
3. Determine the density and specific weight of methane gas at at a pressure of 300 absolute
and 60°C. Answer: Methane =1.74 kg m3, Methane =17.1 N m3
4. A 10 m3 oxygen tank is at 15°C and 800 kPa. The valve is opened, and some oxygen is
released until the pressure in the tank drops to 600 kPa. Calculate the mass of oxygen that
has been released from the tank if the temperature in the tank does not change during the
process. Answer: Mass released is 26.7 kg.
5. A rigid tank contains 40 lbm of air at 20 psia and 70°F. More air is added to the tank until
the pressure and temperature rise to 35 psia and 90°F, respectively. Determine the
amount of air added to the tank. Answer: 27.4 lbm
6. Find the dynamic and kinematic viscosities of kerosene, SAE 10W-30 motor oil, and
water at a temperature of 38°C (100°F). Answer: µ = 6.7 x 10–2 & s m
7. The kinematic viscosity of methane at 15°C and atmospheric pressure is Using
Sutherland’s equation and the ideal gas law, find the kinematic viscosity at 200°C and 2
atmospheres. Answer: 1.32 x 10–3 lbf-s /ft2
8. Find the kinematic and dynamic viscosities of air and water at a temperature of 40°C
(104°F) and an absolute pressure of 170 kPa (25 psia).
9. This problem involves a cylinder falling inside a pipe that is filled with oil, as depicted in
the figure. The small space between the cylinder and the pipe is lubricated with an oil
film that has viscosity µ. Derive a formula for the steady rate of descent of a cylinder
with weight W, diameter d, and length l sliding inside a vertical smooth pipe that has
inside diameter D. Assume that the cylinder is concentric with the pipe as it falls. Use the
general formula to find the rate of descent of a cylinder 100 mm in diameter that slides
inside a 100.5 mm pipe. The cylinder is 200 mm long and weighs 15 N. The lubricant is
SAE 20W oil at 10°C.
10. What is the change in the viscosity and density of water between 10°C and 70°C? What
is the change in the viscosity and density of air between 10°C and 70°C? Assume
standard atmospheric pressure (p= 101 kN m2 absolute).
11. A water bug is suspended on the surface of a pond by surface tension (water does not wet
the legs). The bug has six legs, and each leg is in contact with the water over a length of 5
mm. What is the maximum mass (in grams) of the bug if it is to avoid sinking? Answer:

12. Consider a soap bubble 2 mm in diameter and a droplet of water, also 2 mm in diameter,
that are falling in air. If the value of the surface tension for the film of the soap bubble is
assumed to be the same as that for water, which has the greater pressure inside it? (a) the
bubble, (b) the droplet, (c) neither—the pressure is the same for both. Answer:
13. Water is at 20°C, and the pressure is lowered until bubbles are noticed to be forming.
What must the magnitude of the pressure be?
14. The vapor pressure of water at 100°C is 101 because water boils under these conditions.
The vapor pressure of water decreases approximately linearly with decreasing
temperature at a rate of 3.1 Calculate the boiling temperature of water at an altitude of
3000 m, where the atmospheric pressure is 69 absolutes. Answer:
15. Natural gas is stored in a spherical tank at a temperature of 10°C. At a given initial time,
the pressure in the tank is 100 kPa gage, and the atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa
absolute. Some time later, after considerably more gas is pumped into the tank, the
pressure in the tank is 200 kPa gage, and the temperature is still 10°C. What will be the
ratio of the mass of natural gas in the tank when p = 200 kPa gage to that when the
pressure was 100 kPa gage?
16. Initially when 1000 ml of water at 10oC are poured into a glass cylinder the depth of the
water column is 100 cm. the water and its container are heated to 80 oC. Assuming no
evaporation, what then will be the depth of the water column if the coefficient of thermal
mm
expansion for the glass is 3.6 x 10-6 ?
mm−° C
17. A block of weight W slides down an inclined plane while lubricated by a thin film of oil,
as in Figure. The film contact area is A and its thickness is h. Assuming a linear velocity
distribution in the film, derive an expression for the “terminal” (zero-acceleration)
velocity V of the block.
18. An amazing number of commercial and laboratory devices have been developed to
measure the viscosity of fluids. The concentric rotating shaft is an example of a
rotational viscometer. Let the inner and outer cylinders have radii ri and ro, respectively,
with total sleeve length L. Let the rotational rate be Ω (rad/s) and the applied torque be M.
Derive a theoretical relation for the viscosity of the clearance fluid,µ, in terms of these
parameters.

19. Nutrients dissolved in water are carried to upper parts of plants by tiny tubes partly
because of the capillary effect. Determine how high the water solution will rise in a tree
in a 0.005-mm-diameter tube as a result of the capillary effect. Treat the solution as water
at 20°C with a contact angle of 15o. Answer: 5.75 m

20. Contrary to what you might expect, a solid steel ball can float on water due to the surface
tension effect. Determine the maximum diameter of a steel ball that would float on water
at 20oC. What would your answer be for an aluminum ball? Take the densities of steel
and aluminum balls to be 7800 kg/m3 and 2700 kg/m3, respectively.

21. Calculate the change in enthalpy as 1 kg of Nitrogen is heated from 1000 K to 1500 K,
assuming the Nitrogen is an ideal gas at a constant pressure. The temperature dependent
specific heat of Nitrogen is Cp = 39.06 – 512.79T-1.5 + 1072.7T-2 – 820.4T-3 where Cp is in
kJ/kg-mol, and T is in Kelvin.

22. Gas in a cylinder obeys Boyle’s Law: PV = C. at a certain instant there are 50 m 3 of gas
in the container at a pressure of 30 kPa. If the pressure is decreasing at the rate of 0.6
kPa/hr, find the rate of change of the volume.

23. The adiabatic law: PV1.4 = C applies to the expansion of air. At a certain instant the
volume is observed to be 2.0 m3, and the pressure is 15 kPa. If the volume is decreasing
at the rate of 0.05 m3/s. How fast is the pressure changing?

24. A rigid cylinder of 200 mm diameter contains SAE 30 oil over water, as shown in Figure
4. If a force F of 1 MN is applied to the piston rod, how far will the piston move
downward?
 Ans: 17.4 mm

25. A closed vessel A contains 3 ft3 of air at PA = 500 psia and a temperature of T A = 120oF.
This vessel connects with vessel B, which contains an unknown volume of air V B at 15
psia and 50oF. After the valve separating the two vessels is opened, the resulting pressure
and temperature are Pm = 200 psia and Tm = 70oF, respectively. What is the volume VB?