PHYS1004 Problem Sheet - Fluids 2 - with Solutions

The following questions should be attempted in groups during the workshop and the drop-in
tute during week 8. Solutions will be provided on Friday at the end of the week.

1. What are the SI units of the following physical concepts or properties?

(a) Flow rate

(b) Viscosity
(c) Pressure×Volume
(d) Reynolds Number

Solution:
Flow rate: m3 s−1 , Viscosity: Pa·s; Pressure×Volume: J, Reynolds number: no units
(it’s dimensionless)

2. You are filling your car with petrol, which emerges from pump through a pipe with a 3 cm
diameter at a speed of 50 cm/s.

(a) Calculate the flow rate.

Solution:
(a)Petrol is an incompressible so the continuity equation holds. Flow rate (Q) = Area x
velocity of the fluid, so

Q = Av
= (π × 0.015m2 ) × 0.5ms−1 = 3.5 × 10−4 m3 s−1 (or 0.35l/s)

(b) How long will it take to fill a car with 20 l of fuel?

Solution:
(b) flow rate Q is volume divided by time (you can think of it as the rate of change of
volume of fuel in the fuel tank)
∆V
Q=
∆t
so therefore the time taken to increase the volume of the fuel tank by ∆V = 20l at a flow
rate Q of 0.35 ls−1 is:
∆V 20l
∆t = = = 57s
Q 0.35ls−1
3. A garden hose has a diameter of 16 mm. The hose can fill a 10 litre bucket in 20 s.
(a) What is the speed of the water out the end of the hose?
(b) A nozzle with smaller diameter than the hose is attached to the end of the hose to increase
the flow speed out of the hose. What diameter nozzle with circular cross section is needed for
the water to exit the hose with a speed 4 times greater than the speed inside the hose?

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 Solution:
(a) Water is incompressible so the continuity equation holds. (i.e. what flows in must flow out.).
The volume flow rate is Q = 10 l / 20 s = 0.5 l/s. To convert to SI units: we know that

1000cm3
1l = 1000ml = = 1 × 10−3 m3
(100 ∗ 100 ∗ 100)
So the Flow rate Q = 5 × 10−4 m3 s−1 . The velocity is then:

Q Q 5 × 10−4 m3 s−1
v= = 2 = = 2.5ms−1
A πr π × (0.0080m)2

(b) From the continuity equation, the flow rate must remain constant as the water flows through
the hose and out through the nozzle; so at any two points along the flow A1 v1 = A2 v2 . Choosing
point 1 to be in the hose and point 2 to be in the nozzle gives v2 = 4v1 . Rearranging this for
A2 :
A1 1
A2 = v 2 = A1
v1 4
Then using A = πr2 and taking the square root of both sides:
1
πr22 = πr12
4
1
r2 = r1 = 4mm
2
Therefore the diameter of the nozzle should be 8 mm.
We could also follow the logic used in the notes for application of the continuity equation: Since
Av =const., then r2 v =const., so an increase in v of 4x requires a reduction in r2 of 4x, which
means a reduction in r of 2x, i.e. the radius of the nozzle must be 2x smaller than the hose.

4. A catheter is inserted into a blood vessel to measure the local blood pressure, velocity and to
view the inside wall of the artery. The local pressure was found to be 1.4 × 104 Pa and the
blood had a velocity of 0.4 m/s is in the unconstricted part of the vessel. The inside diameter of
the vessel is 2 cm and a region of the aorta is found with a deposit that reduces the diameter by
30% Assume that the blood has a density of 1060 kgm−3 and ignore viscous friction.

(a) Find the blood velocity through the constricted region.

(b) Find difference between the blood pressure in the constricted region compared to the rest
of the artery. Express this in a percentage of the total blood pressure.
(c) Does this result help to quantify the effect that a constriction has on the blood flow rate?
Discuss.

Solution:
(a) The velocity can be determined using the continuity equation

A1 d2
v2 = v1 = v1 12
A2 d2

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 We know the ratio of the diameters d is 1:0.7. Thus the velocity of the blood in the constricted
region is found to be:
1
v2 = 0.4 × ( )2 = 0.82m/s
0.7

(b) We can use Bernoulli’s equation

1
P + ρv 2 + ρgy = constant
2
As we have no change in the height the equation becomes
1
P + ρv 2 = constant
2
1 1
P1 + ρv12 = P2 + ρv22
2 2
1
P1 − P2 = ρ(v22 − v12 ) = 271P a
2
In terms of a percentage:
P1 − P2
× 100 = 2%
P1

(c) As we are treating blood as a frictionless (inviscid) fluid we are ignoring the effects of
viscosity in this problem. In this case (which is the case where the Bernoulli equation holds) the
pressure is the same in all the unconstricted regions and only decreases where it’s constricted.
So the pressure drop across the constriction is zero for the frictionless case, Bernoulli’s law is
of no assistance for determining how this constriction affects flow rate.
For Poiseuille the pressure is continually dropping along the direction of the flow, and dropping
more rapidly across the constriction. The increased change in pressure associated with the con-
striction will affect the overall relationship between pressure and flow rate of the blood vessel.
So it is Poiseuille’s law which is relevant.
(Also it should be remembered that the blood vessels are not stiff and can respond to changes in
local pressure differences, so any calculations like this will be approximate)
5. A smooth wooden surface is covered with a 1 mm thick layer of tile adhesive with viscosity 50
Pa s. A tile measuring 30 x 30 cm is placed on it. If a force of 10 N is applied parallel to the
surface find the velocity with which the tile slides.
Solution:
This is a classic problem of fluid shearing, and we will assume in advance, due to the high
viscosity, that the flow is laminar. Then, using the relation between shear rate and shear stress
for a viscous fluid:
F v
=η
A l
This rearranges to
lF 1 × 1 −−3 m × 10N
v= = = 0.002ms−1
ηA 50P a · s × 0.09m2

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6. A cardiologist reports that the radius of a 100 mm long segment of a patients radial artery (3
mm in diameter) has narrowed by 10% along its entire length since it was last measured.
(a) Do we use Bernoullis equation or Poiseuilles equation to determine the relationship between
pressure and flow rate through this artery?
(b) What percentage increase in blood pressure must the patient’s heart apply at the entrance
to the artery in order to maintain blood flow as before the artery narrowed? Assume that the
pressure at the exit of the artery remains unchanged.
Hint: What do we know? What stays the same? What can we assume?
Solution: (a) We would use Poiseuilles equation as this is not just a local blockage (it is the
whole artery that has a reduced radius).
(b) Lets look at the situation of a normal artery (ie higher radius lets call this 1) and a narrowed
artery (with the deposits lets call this 2). The viscosity of the blood will be unchanged, length
of artery will be unchanged and the volume flow rate must also stay unchanged. Thus if the flow
rate is to remain unchanged then we can say that Q1 = Q2 . Using Poiseuilles Law we know
that the volume flow rate of a non-ideal fluid (i.e. a fluid that has a viscosity like blood) is given
by:
πr4 ∆P
Q=
8ηl
Then we can write Q1 = Q2 and by cancelling out all the terms that that the same we are left
with:
πr14 ∆P1 πr4 ∆P2
= 2
8ηl 8ηl
4 4
r1 ∆P1 = r2 ∆P2

We are after the percentage increase thus the ratio of ∆P2 /∆P1 .
Now all we need to do is express r2 in terms of r1 : To do this we use the fact we are told that the
artery has narrowed by 10%. So r2 = 0.9r1 . Now we can write the equation out and calculate
the ratio:
∆P2 r4 1
= 14 = = 1.52
∆P1 r2 0.94
A ratio of 1.52 means we have a 52% increase in the blood pressure. That is quite significant
and would result in the patients heart having to work much harder to adequate blood flow to
occur. Indeed a narrowing of only 10% can result in a small heart attack (this happened to
Jodie’s father in law a few years back - he had a stent put in to widen the blood vessel and was
back in action in no time!).

7. The Reynolds number Re helps us determine if a non-ideal fluid is moving in a laminar or

turbulent fashion. An accepted definition is that if Re is less than 2000 (no units) the fluid is
displaying laminar flow. Show that the value Re has no units.
Solution:
We work purely with units here - a slightly more general approach is to use ’dimensional’

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 analysis. The main point is to write all ’derived units’ (like N and Pa) in terms of length, mass
and time, i.e. m, kg and s. Once you have done this it becomes a problem of algebra where the
units are treated as variables.
First we convert the units of viscosity, which are Pa·s, into Nm−2 ·s. Then, since F = ma, the
newton is kgms−2 , so the units of viscosity can be written as Pa·s ' kgm−1 s−1
 
ρvl
Units(Re) = Units
η
kgm ms−1 m
−3
=
P as
kgm−1 ms−1
=
kgm−1 s−1
= no units

Since the units all cancel we have shown that Reynolds number is dimensionless.

8. Estimate the Reynolds number around a swimmer and around a car, to see if you get (roughly)
the same answers as in the lecture slides. The length scale should be roughly the radius of the
perturbed region of fluid around the moving object.
Solution:
ρvl
Re =
η

For the swimmer (100m in about 100, i.e. v = 1ms−1 ) we have

ρvl 1000kgm−3 × 1ms−1 × 1.0m

Re = = = 106
η 1 × 10−3 P as

For the car we have (velocity = 20 ms− 1 = 72 km/h), assuming the same size shear zone:

ρvl 1.25kgm−3 × 20ms−1 × 1.0m

Re = = = 1.25 × 106
η 2 × 10−5 P as
This isn’t the same as the values quoted in the lecture. This is most likely because the two
results depend on a large number of estimates, for example in the above calculation we didn’t
considere localised velocities higher than 1m/s around a swimmer, or the fact that an olympic
swimmer can travel at around 2 m/s.

9. The average person has a lung capacity of about 5 l.

(a) Estimate the volumetric flow rate when breathing normally (concentrate perhaps on your
own breathing to determine how fast you breathe in or out).
(b) Estimate the diameter of the windpipe and use that and your answer to (a) to determine
the velocity of air through the windpipe.
(c) Determine whether you expect the air flowing through the windpipe to be turbulent. You
may need the density of air ρa = 1 kgm−3 and its viscosity ηa = 1.7 × 10−5 Nm−2 s.

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 Solution:

(a) I’ll choose 2s as the time taken to breathe in or out. Then convert the lung volume to SI
units of m3 - 5 l = 0.005m3 . The flow rate Q can then be estimated to be Q = V /∆t =
0.005/2 = 0.0025 m3 s−1 . In questions like this it’s less important to make a good guess
than to get the calculation right.
(b) I would guess the windpipe to be 25mm in diameter (but that’s just a guess). To determine
the velocity we need to rearrange Q = Av, where A is the cross sectional area of the
windpipe. A circle with diameter 25 mm ( = 2.5 × 10−2 m) has a radius of 0.0125 m
and an area of A = πr2 = π × 0.01252 = 0.0049 m2 . So the velocity v = Q/A =
0.0025/0.0049 ' 5.1ms−1 .
(c) Use the concept of Reynold’s number here, because that tells us when we can expect a flow
to become turbulent. The Reynolds number is Re = ρvd/η, where ρ is the fluid density, η
its viscosity, v the flow velocity and where the length scale d is the radius of the pipe:
ρvd 1 × 5.1 × 0.025
Re = = = 7500
η 1.7 × 10−5
This is in the regime of onset of turbulence, so we would expect some swirling and eddies
in our throat when we’re breathing, particularly when we’re breathing hard.

10. Blood flows in a blood vessel of radius 2 mm. Blood has a viscosity of 2.1 × 10−3 Pa.s (at body
temperature) and a density 1060 kgm−3 .
(a) Calculate the greatest speed of blood flow if the flow is to remain laminar?
(b) What is the corresponding flow rate?
Solution: (a) In order to calculate the speed at which the flow to become turbulent we can use
the concept of Reynolds number Re. If Re is = 2000 (no units) then this is the point where the
flow transitions from laminar to turbulent. Rearranging the expression for Reynolds number
gives

Reη 2000 × 2.1 × 10−3 P a · s

v= = = 1ms−1
ρl 1060kgm−3 × 4 × 10−3 m
Where we have used the vessel diameter as the ’length scale’. This will be a reasonable upper
limit if the vessel walls are smooth, but in more general situations the flow may become turbulent
at speeds lower than this.
(b) The flow rate is equal to:

Q = Av = πr2 v = π × (2 × 10−3 m)2 × 1ms−1 = 1.3 × 10−5 m3 s−1

11. There is a Mythbusters episode on whether the ocean might have killer whirlpools big enough
to suck down big ships (see http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3g1f78, about
the 30 minute mark). In their experiment, they made a scale model whirlpool with water and put
scale model boats on it. Since everything was at a linear scale 200 times smaller than the real

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thing, and since velocity is length/time, they reduced the velocity by 200 to be consistent with
the scale model. Do you agree with this approach? How much smaller do you think the velocity
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should be in the 200 th scale model than in the real thing? Hint: whirlpools are a turbulent
phenomenon, so the Reynolds number needs to be considered.
Solution:
This is a study of turbulence so we naturally consider the Reynolds number of the flow. There
are a number of other factors that should also be considered in running scale experiments in
fluid dynamics, but Reynolds number is the most important for this experiment in turbulence.
Reynolds number is defined as
ρvd
Re =
η
To keep the Reynolds number constant when the length has been decreased by 200 times, the
velocity must be increased by 200 times. So the Mythbusters experiment actually has a velocity,
and Reynolds number, 40,000 times smaller than the real thing. This low velocity means that
viscous forces will dissipate any eddies and smooth the flow to be laminar. Therefore there
is no chance of creating a killer whirlpool in the scale model, and the Mythbusters result is
meaningless Note that even if we get the Reynolds number right, there is no guarantee that the
scale model will work. However if the Reynolds number is wrong, the model is sure to fail.