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Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics that studies fluids (liquids, gases,

and plasmas) and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into:
1. Fluid statics- The study of fluids at rest.
2. Fluid kinematics- The study of fluids in motion.
3. Fluid dynamics- The study of the effect of forces on fluid motion.
It is a branch of continuum mechanics, a subject which models matter without using the
information that it is made out of atoms, that is, it models matter from a macroscopic
viewpoint rather than from a microscopic viewpoint.
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Bernoullis Law Derivation Diagram

Like any mathematical model of the real world, fluid mechanics makes some basic
assumptions about the materials being studied. These assumptions are turned into
equations that must be satisfied if the assumptions are to be held true.
For example, consider a fluid in three dimensions. The assumption that mass is
conserved means that for any fixed control volume (for example a sphere) enclosed
by a control surface the rate of change of the mass contained is equal to the rate at
which mass is passing from outside to inside through the surface, minus the rate at
which mass is passing the other way, from inside to outside.
(A special case would be when the mass inside and the mass outside remain constant).
This can be turned into an equation in integral form over the control volume.

Fluid mechanics assumes that every fluid obeys the following:

Conservation of mass- The law implies that mass can neither be created nor
destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, or the entities associated with it
may be changed in form, as for example when light or physical work is transformed
into particles that contribute the same mass to the system as the light or work had
contributed.

Conservation of energy- Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can
change form, for instancechemical energy can be converted to kinetic energy in the
explosion of a stick of dynamite.

Conservation of momentum- The total momentum of a collection of objects


(a system) is conserved - that is, the total amount of momentum is a constant or
unchanging value.

The continuum hypothesis

Balance for some integrated fluid quantity


in a control volume enclosed by a control surface.

Bernoullis Principle
In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that for an inviscid flow, an
increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or
a decrease in the fluid's potential energy. Bernoulli's principle can be applied to various
types of fluid flow, resulting in what is loosely denoted as Bernoulli's equation.
Bernoulli's principle can be derived from the principle of conservation of energy. This
states that, in a steady flow, the sum of all forms of mechanical energy in a fluid along
a streamline is the same at all points on that streamline. This requires that the sum of
kinetic energy and potential energy remain constant. Thus an increase in the speed of
the fluid occurs proportionately with an increase in both its dynamic pressure and kinetic
energy, and a decrease in its static pressure and potential energy.

A flow of air into a venturi meter. The kinetic


energy increases at the expense of the fluid
pressure, as shown by the difference in height of
the two columns of water.

Buoyancy
In science, buoyancy is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes
the weight of an immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as
a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object
submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the column than
at the top. This difference in pressure results in a net force that tends to accelerate an
object upwards. The magnitude of that force is proportional to the difference in the
pressure between the top and the bottom of the column, and (as explained
by Archimedes' principle) is also equivalent to the weight of the fluid that would
otherwise occupy the column, i.e. the displaced fluid

The forces at work in buoyancy.


Note that, because the upward force
of buoyancy is equal to the
downward force of gravity, the
object is floating.

Pascals Law/ Pascals Principle


Pascal's law or the principle of transmission of fluid-pressure is a principle in fluid
mechanics that states that pressure exerted anywhere in a confined incompressible
fluid is transmitted equally in all directions throughout the fluid such that the pressure
variations (initial differences) remain the same.

Archimedes Principle
Archimedes' principle indicates that the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a
body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially submerged, is equal to the weight of
the fluid that the body displaces. Archimedes' principle is a law of physics fundamental
to fluid mechanics.

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