CL 254 Fluid Mechanics 2025
Problem Set 1
Problem 1
The drag force FD on a body is given by
1
FD = V 2 ACD
2
Here the drag depends on the speed V, fluid density and the body size (indicated by the frontal area
A) and shape (indicated by the drag coefficient CD). What are the dimensions of CD?
Problem 2
Calculate the density of standard air in a laboratory from the ideal gas equation of state. Estimate the
experimental uncertainty in air density calculated for standard conditions (1 atm and 15 deg C) if
uncertainty in measuring barometer height is 2.5 mm Hg and the uncertainty in measuring
temperature is 0.3 deg C.
Problem 3
The mass flow rate in a water flow system determined by collecting the discharge over a timed
interval is 0.2 kg/s. The scales used can be read to the nearest 0.05 kg and stopwatch is accurate to 0.2
s. Estimate the precision (in terms of relative uncertainty) with which the flow rate can be calculated
for time intervals of (a) 10 s and (b) 1 min.
Problem 4
A velocity field is given by V = Axiˆ − Ayjˆ ; the units of velocity are m/s; x and y are given in metres;
A = 0.3s-1.
a) Obtain an equation for the streamlines in the xy plane.
b) Determine the velocity of a particle at the point (x0, y0) = (2, 8)
c) If the particle passing through point (x0, y0) is marked at time t = 0, determine the location of the
particle at time t = 6s.
d) Show that the equation of the pathline is the same as the equation of the streamline.
Problem 5
A flow is described by velocity field, V = ai+bxj , where a = 2 m/s and b = 1s-1. Coordinates are
measured in metres.
Obtain the equation for the streamline passing through the point (2, 5).
At t = 2s, what are the coordinates of the particle that passed through point (0, 4) at t = 0?
At t = 3s, what are the coordinates of the particle that passed through point (1, 4.25) 2s earlier?
What conclusions can you draw about the pathline, streamline, and streakline for this flow?
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CL 254 Fluid Mechanics 2025
Problem 6
A velocity field is given by V = aytiˆ − bxjˆ , where a=1 s-2 and b=4 s-1. Find the equation of the
streamlines at any time t.
Problem 7
An infinite plate is moved (with U0 = 0.3 m/s) over a second plate on a layer of liquid. For a small gap
width, d = 0.3 mm, we assume a linear velocity distribution in the liquid. The liquid viscosity is 0.65
cP and its specific gravity is 0.88. Determine:
a) The kinematic viscosity of the liquid in m2/s
b) The shear stress on the upper plate, in Pa
c) The shear stress on the lower plate, in Pa
d) The direction of shear stress calculated in parts (c) and (d).
Problem 8
The velocity distribution for laminar flow between parallel plates is given by
2
u 2y
= 1−
umax h
where h is the distance separating the plates and the origin is placed midway between the plates.
Consider flow of water at 15°C with a maximum speed of 0.05 m/s and h = 0.1 mm.
(a) Calculate the shear stress on the upper plate and its direction.
(b) Sketch the variation of shear stress across the channel.
(c) Calculate the force on a 1 m2 section of the lower plate and give its direction
Viscosity of water at 15 deg C = 1.14 10−3 Ns m2
Problem 9
Small gas bubbles form in soda when a bottle or can is opened. The average bubble diameter is about
0.1 mm. Estimate the pressure difference between the inside and outside of such a bubble.
Problem 10
Find an approximate expression for the capillary rise or fall of a column of water or mercury,
respectively, as a function of tube diameter D. Find the minimum diameter of each column required
so that the height magnitude will be less than 1 mm.
For water, = 72.8 milliN/m and 0 , and for mercury = 484 milliN/m and = 140° .