MEEN 3113

Lecture 2 & 3
Fluid Mechanics
INTRODUCTION

Branches of Fluid Mechanics

1. Fluid Statics – the study of mechanics of fluid at rest.
2. Fluid Kinematics – deals with velocities and streamlines without
considering forces or energy.
3. Hydromechanics – concerned with the relations between velocities
and accelerations and the forces exerted or upon fluids in motion.
Types of Fluids
1. Ideal fluids
‐ are fluids that have no viscosity, incompressible, no resistance to 
shear, no eddy currents and no friction between moving surfaces.

2. Real fluids
‐ are fluids that are compressible, non‐uniform velocity distributions 
and have friction and turbulence in flow.
Classification of fluids
1. Gases – fluid which have little resistance to change either in form or 
volume and occupies all the space in which it is contained.

2. Liquids – are fluids which offer great resistance to change in volume 
and occupies a definite portion in which it is contained.
Properties of Fluids
1. Mass – It is the quantitative 2. Density – is the mass per unit
measure of the amount of volume.
matter in a given body.

where:
where: = density
m = mass m = mass
W = weight V = volume
g = acceleration due to gravity
= 9.81 m/s2 = 32.2 ft/s2
3. Specific Weight – is the weight per 4. Specific Volume – is the volume
unit volume of a substance. per unit mass of a substance. It is the
reciprocal of mass density.

where:
= Specific weight
W = weight where:
V = volume = Specific volume
m = mass
= density
V = volume
5. Specific Gravity – is the ratio of the
density or specific weight of a substance to
the density or specific weight of some other
standard substance.

where:
= Specific gravity
= density
= Specific weight
 3. A certain liquid has a unit weight of 56 
kN/m3.
Examples: a. Compute the mass density
1. If 5.6 m3 of oil weighs 46,800 N, Calculate  b. Compute its specific volume
the following: c. Compute its specific gravity
a. weight, N/m3
b. density, kg/m3 4. A quart of water weighs 4.08 lb. Compute 
c. specific gravity the following:
a. Mass in slugs
2. The volume of a tetrachloride having a  b. Mass in kg
mass of 1200 kg is 0.952 m3. Compute the  c. Volume in ft3
following:
a. mass density, kg/m3 5. Carbon tetrachloride with a mass of 500 
b. specific weight, kN/m3 kg is placed in container with 0.325 m3.
c. specific gravity  a. Calculate its density
b. Calculate its specific weight
c. Calculate its weight
 3. If the density of the gas is 
Sw#2 0.003 slugs/ft3, what is the 
specific weight of the gas in 
1. The mass of air in the room  N/m3?
3m x 5m x 20m is known to 
be 350kg. Find its density in 
kg/m3: 4. 100g of water are mixed 
with 150g of alcohol 
(ρ=790kg/m 3). What is the 
2. The specific weight of a 
liquid is 58.5 lbf/ft3, what is  specific gravity of the 
the specific volume of the  resulting mixture, assuming 
liquid in cm3/g? that the two fluids  mix 
completely?
6. Compressibility – is a measure of the
relative volume change of a fluid or solid as
a response to a pressure change.
7. Bulk modulus – is a measure of how
compressible that substance is. It is defined
as the ratio of the infinitesimal pressure
increase to the resulting relative decrease of
the volume.

where: ∆ change in pressure

where: bulk modulus of elasticity
∆V change in volume
compressibility
initial volume
1. A liquid which is compressed in a cylinder
if it has a volume of 1000 m3 at 2 Mpa and a
volume of 990 m3 at 2.5 Mpa.
a. Compute the compressibility
b. Compute the bulk modulus of elasticity
c. Compute the percentage of volume
decreased.
2. A volume of 1 m3 of water is subjected to
a pressure increase of 14 Mpa.
a. Compute the change in its volume if it is 
has a bulk modulus of elasticity of 2200 
Mpa.
b. Compute the coefficient of 
compressibility.
3. A rigid container is partly filled
with a liquid at 1520 kPa. The
volume of the liquid is 1.232 liters.
At a pressure of 3039 kPa, the
volume of the liquid is 1.231 liters.
a. Compute the average bulk
modulus of elasticity of the
liquid.
b. Compute the coefficient of
compressibility.
8. Surface tension – is the elastic tendency Soap bubble
of a fluid surface which makes it acquire the
least surface area possible. Surface tension
allows insects usually denser than water to
float and stride on a water surface.
Liquid bubble
H20 @ 0 oC= 0.076 N/m
H20 @ 100 oC= 0.059 N/m
Capillary Action - this is done through the
behavior of surface tension between the
liquid and a vertical solid surface.

where:
h = capillary rise
σ = surface tension
Ѳ = 0 for water, 130 for mercury
D = diameter of tube
g = gravity
ρ = density
1. The radius of the tube is 1 mm. The surface
tension of water at 20 oC is equal to 0.0728 N/m.
For a water-glass interface Ѳ = 0o.
a. Compute the capillary rise in tube in mm.
b. Compute the total force due to surface
tension. (F=σπdCosѲ)
a. Find the depression h of the mercury in the
glass capillary tube having diameter of 2 mm if
the surface tension is 0.514 N/m for Ѳ = 40o
b. Compute the force caused by surface tension.
c. Determine the density of mercury.

c. Compute the weight of water above the

surface due to surface tension.
8. Viscosity – property of a fluid which
determines the amount of its resistance to
shearing forces.
Viscosity index - the rate at which viscosity
changes with temperature.
Viscometer - an instrument,
consisting of standard
orifice, used for measuring
viscosity (in SSU and SSF).
Two types of viscosity measurement:
1. Absolute Viscosity (Dynamic), μ
- viscosity which is determined by
direct measurement of shear resistance (in
Poise).
where:
F/A = shear stress
dv/dy = shear strain
2. Kinematic Viscosity, ѵ
- is the ratio of the dynamic viscosity
of the fluid to its mass density.
 Common units of viscosity
SYSTEMS ABSOLUTE KINEMATIC
ENGLISH lb-sec/ft2 ft2/sec
(slug/ft-sec)

METRIC dyne-s/cm2 cm2/s

(poise) (stroke)
S.I. Pa-s m2/s
(N-s/m2)
note:
1 poise = 1 dyne.s/cm2 = 0.1 Pa-sec (1 dyne = 10-5 N)
1 stoke = 0.0001 m2/s

Example:
If the viscosity of water at 70 oC
is 0.00402 poise and its specific gravity
is 0.978 determine its absolute viscosity
in Pa‐s and its kinematic viscosity in
m2/s and in stokes.
9. Pressure disturbances ‐ it is imposed
on a fluid move in waves. The velocity
or celerity of pressure wave (also known
as acoustical or sonic velocity) is
expressed as:
Ex: A sonar transmitter operates at 2
impulse per second. If the device is held
the surface of fresh water (EB = 2.04 x
109 Pa). Find the velocity of the pressure
wave (sound wave) in m/s.
10. Property changes in ideal gas Ex. If 9 m3 of an ideal gas at 24 oC and
a. Equation of state 150 kPaa is compressed to 2 m3,
a. what is the resulting pressure
assuming isothermal conditions?
a. Boyle’s law
b. What would be the pressure and
temperature if the process is isentropic?
k = 1.3
b. Charles law

c. Adiabatic conditions
2. Helium at 149 kPaa and 10 oC is 4. If the viscosity of water at 68 oF is
isentropically compressed to ¼ of its 0.01008 poise,
original volume. What is its final a. Compute its absolute viscosity in
pressure? pounds‐seconds per square foot.

3. If 12 m3 of nitrogen at 30 oC and 125 b. If the specific gravity at 68 oF is 0.998,

kPaa is permitted to expand compute its kinematic viscosity in
isothermally to 30 m3, square feet per second.
a. What is the resulting pressure?

b. What would be the pressure and 5. Convert 15.14 poises to kinematic

temperature have been if the process viscosity in ft2/sec if the liquid has a
had been isentropic? specific gravity of 0.964.
SW#3
The surface tensions of mercury
and water at 60oC are 0.47 N/m
and 0.0662 N/m, respectively.
What capillary‐height changes will
occur in these two fluids when
they are in contact with air in glass
tube of radius 0.30mm? Use
θ=130o for mercury, and 0o for
water; Ɣ=132.3 KN/m3 for
mercury, and 9.650 KN/m3 for
water.
Assignment:
1. Find the capillary rise in the tube for a
mercury-air-glass interface with σ = 0.514
N/m if the tube radius is 1mm and the
temperature is 20 oC.
2. If a bubble is equivalent to an air‐
water interface with σ = 0.005 lb/ft,
what is the pressure difference between
the inside and outside of a bubble of
diameter 0.003 in?
3. At 30 oC what diameter glass tube is
necessary to keep the capillary‐height
of change of water less than 2 mm.
4. Find the change in volume of 1.0 ft3 of
water at 80 oF when subjected to a pressure
increase of 300 psi. Water’s bulk modulus
of elasticity at this temperature is 325,000
psi.
5. A rigid steel container is partially filled
with a liquid at 15 atm. The volume of the
liquid is 1.232 L. At a pressure of 30 atm,
the volume of the liquid is 1.231 L. Find the
average bulk modulus of elasticity of the
liquid over the given range of pressure if
the temperature after compression is
allowed to return to its initial value. What is
the coefficient of compressibility in Gpa‐1?