Faculty of Science

Objectives

The purpose of this course is to present the basic principles of the mechanics of fluids and to illustrate them by examples in various branches of science.

Contents

Fundamental concepts: characteristics of fluids, properties of fluids, equation of state of the perfect gas, compressibility, viscosity, surface tension, basic characteristics of fluid flow, kinds of flow; Fluid statics: variation of pressure with position in a fluid, measurement of pressure, first and second moment of an area, hydrostatic thrusts on submerged surfaces, buoyancy, stability of bodies in a fluid, equilibrium of moving fluids; Principles of fluid motion: acceleration of a fluid particle, continuity, Bernouilli’s equation, general steady equation for steady flow in any fluid, pressure variation perpendicular to streamlines, simple applications of Bernouilli’s equation; the momentum equation: the momentum equation for steady flows, applications of the momentum equation; Flow of and ideal fluid: the stream function, circulation and vorticity, velocity potential, combining flow patterns, basic patterns of flow, combination of various flow patterns, elementary aerofoil theory.