Last Rev.

: 12 JUL 08

Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

Page 1

Grading Sheet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MIME 3470Thermal Science Laboratory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experiment . 4

FLOW METERS

Students Names Section

POINTS
10
5
10

APPEARANCE
ORGANIZATION
ENGLISH and GRAMMAR
MATHCAD
ORDERED DATA, DIMENSIONS, PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

VENTURI METER: COMBINED PLOT: hflow vs. Qtheo & hflow vs. Qact
PLOT OF Cv vs. Re
ORIFICE METER: COMBINED PLOT: hflow vs. Qtheo & hflow vs. Qact
PLOT OF Co vs. Re
TURBINE METER: PLOT OF Qact vs. Qind
REGRESSED & PLOTTED CALIBRATION LINE
ROTAMETER:
PLOT OF Qact vs. Qind
COMBINED PLOT: h fric vs. Qact FOR THE 4 METERS
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS
ORIGINAL DATASHEET

5
5
5
5
5
8
5
5
10
10
5

TOTAL

100

Comments

SCORE

TOTAL

Last Rev.: 12 JUL 08

GRADER

Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

MIME 3470Thermal Science Laboratory

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Experiment . 4

Applying Bernoullis2 equation3 to points and of the Venturi

meter and relating the pressure difference to the flow rate yields

p2 p1 V12 V22

2 gc

FLOW METERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LAB PARTNERS: NAME

NAME
NAME
SECTION

EXPERIMENT TIME/DATE:

NAME
NAME
NAME
TIME, DATE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OBJECTIVEThe objective of this experiment is to familiarize the

student with few of the more common types of flow meters used in
engineering applications and to compare performances. The students
will construct calibration curves and determine meter flow
characteristics such as discharge coefficients and friction drop.
INTRODUCTIONThere are many different meters used to
measure fluid flow: the turbine-type flow meter, the rotameter, the
orifice meter, and the Venturi meter are only a few. Each meter
works by its ability to alter a certain physical property of the
flowing fluid and then allows this alteration to be measured. The
measured alteration is then related to the flow. The subject of this
experiment is to analyze the features of certain meters.
THEORYThe operating principles of these various meters need
to be developed in order to meaningfully compare their performance.
The Venturi Meter The Venturi1 meter is constructed as shown in
Figure 1. It has a constriction within itself. When fluid flows through
the constriction, it experiences an increase in velocity. This increase
in velocity causes a decrease in static pressure at the constriction
(throat). The greater the flow, the greater the pressure drop at the
throat. The pressure difference between the upstream and the
downstream flow, hflow, can be found as a function of the flow rate.

Page 2

Venturi, Giovanni Battista (17461822) Italian physicist, credited with first

observing the phenomenon upon which the operation of the Venturi tube (later
invented by Clemens Herschel) depends. [2]
Certain difficulties are encountered in attempting to restore (downstream of the
throat) the original pressure by decreasing the velocity to its original value. In order to
do this, it is necessary to increase the cross section gradually from the narrowest
section to the original cross section. This type of arrangement, shown in Fig. 208, is
called a Venturi meter. Herschel* first suggested its use for the measurement of
delivered volume in pipe lines. In order to find the relation between the pressure
difference and the mean velocity in the pipe a calibration curve of a geometrically
similar Venturi meter has to be known. In addition, in cases where the velocity of
approach is not very small with respect to the velocity in the throat this geometrical
similarity has to be extended to the approach as well. For Venturi tubes of the
shape shown in Fig. 208 the velocity coefficient is approximately 1.00.

or

2
1
p 2 p1 h flow g Qtheo

gc
2gc

A12

1
.
A22

(2)

h flow

Figure 1Schematic of the Venturi meter [1]

To determine Qtheo, first, one needs to find the relationship between

the velocities V1 and V2 using Bernoullis equation.

p1
p
g V12
g V22 4
.
z1

2 z2

1
gc 2gc 2
gc 2gc
2

(3)

BernoulliName of three generations of a family of mathematicians and scientists of

Basel, Switzerland, that started with Jakob I [aka Jacob, Jacques, Jaques, and James]
(16541705); prof. of mathematics at U. of Basel (from 1687); pioneer in application
of Leibnizian calculus to a variety of problems; introduced term integral; studied
catenaries, and applied calculus to bridge design. Author of Conamen novi systematis
cometarum (1682), Dissetatio de gravitate aetheris (1683), Ars conjectandi (contains
binomial distribution, pub. posthum. by Nikolaus in 1713), etc. His brother Johann I
(16671748); prof. of mathematics at U. of Basel (from 1705); was a pioneer in
exponential calculus; teacher of Euler, and collaborator of LHospital. Their nephew
Nikolaus (16871759); prof. of mathematics at Padua (171622), then of law and logic
at U. of Basel; contributed to probability theory and infinite series. Johanns sons:
Daniel (17001782), mathematics prof. at St. Petersburg (172432), of anatomy,
botany, and physics, and then of philosophy, at U. of Basel; discovered Bernoullis
principle relating fluid velocity and pressure; contributed to probability, kinetic theory
of gases, celestial mechanics; author of Hydrodynamica (1738) and works on
acoustics, astronomy, etc.; and Johann II (17101790), prof. of eloquence and of
mathematics, known for his contribution to theories of heat and light. Two sons of the
last named: Johann III (17441807), astronomer to the Acad. of Berlin, author of
Recueil pour les astronomes (177276); and Jakob II (17591789), prof. of
mathematics at St. Petersburg. Christoph (17821863), grandson of Johann II and
nephew of Johann III and Jakob II, was naturalist and prof. at U. of Basel (from 1818);
author of Vademecum des Mechanikers (1829), etc. [2]
Bernoulli may well be the most famous mathematical family of all time. There
were 8-12 Bernoulli mathematiciansthe confusion arises as the same given
names were used in more than one generation [5].
Bernoullis Equation: applies to incompressible (Mach < 0.3 for gases),
inviscid, irrotational fluids. If applying the equation along a streamline, can drop
the irrotational partconstant energy along a streamline.
Students will often refer to g, the acceleration of gravity, as the gravitational constant.
The gravitational constant is the gc shown in Bernoullis equation above. In the

gc 1

December 1887. [3]

This equation relates the pressure difference, hflow, to the flow rate
Qtheo, and represents the theoretical curve for the Venturi meter.

English Gravitational System of units,

* Herschel, Cl., The Venturi Meter, paper read before the Am. Soc. Civil Eng.,

(1)

kg m
s2

kg m
N s2

gc 1

lbm ft
lbf s 2

. In the SI system

if one wants force expressed as Newtons, N, instead of

. Many people curse the English Gravitational System; but, it is ancient

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Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

With increasing flow, values for the discharge coefficient level off
at around Co 0.8 for the orifice meter.

For 1 2 and p1 p2 gh flow and z1 = z2

p1 p 2 gh flow
V 2 V12

gh flow 2

(4)

Q1

A1

Q2

A2
2

1
A12

(5)

Thus,

2 gh flow
1

A2 A2
1
2
1

Qtheo

(6)

The Venturi meter is characterized by small pressure losses due to

viscous shear and frictional effects. Thus, for any hflow, the actual
flow rate will be less than the theoretical flow rate.

Qact
Cv
Qtheo

Referring to Figure 2, recall that Bernoullis equation was applied

to Points
and . However, because it is difficult to place a
1

Knowing that V = Q/A and Q1 = Q2 = Q

Q
2 gh flow V22 V12 2
A2

Page 3

pressure tap in the orifice itself, pressure measurements are

actually made at and . So the reader asks: how accurate can
2

such a measurement be? Reference 4 explains that (see Figure 3)

the flow at is almost the same as the slug of flow at
and thus
2

the pressures are almost the same. This is true for a short distance
downstream of the orificethen pressure recovery sets in. With
these assumptions, Bernoullis equation is the same, except
pressure measurements are made at instead of .
2

It should also be noted that the shape of the orifice is important to

the flow quality.5

(7)

where Cv is the Venturi meter discharge coefficient. As flow

increases, the discharge coefficient for a Venturi meter levels
off at about 0.9. Note: Reynolds number for the Venturi meter is
based on the inlet diameter not the throat diameter.
The Orifice Meter: The orifice meter consists of a throttling device
(an orifice plate) inserted in the flow. This orifice plate creates a
measurable pressure difference between its upstream and
downstream sides. This pressure is then related to the flow rate. Like
the Venturi meter, the pressure difference varies directly with the
flow rate. The orifice meter is constructed as shown in Figure 2.

2
2

Figure 3(a) The approximate velocity profiles at several planes near a

sharp-edged orifice plate. Note: the jet emerging from the hole is
somewhat smaller than the hole itself; in highly turbulent flow the jet
necks down to a minimum cross section at the vena contracta. Note that
there is some backflow near the wall. (b) It is assumed that the velocity
profile at
is given by the approximate profile shown. It is also
2

assumed that the velocity profile at

1

2
2

p 2 p1 h flow

g
Q 2

gc
2g c

and

yields

1
1

A2 A2 .
2
1

(8)

For any pressure difference, hflow, there will be two associated

flow rates: the theoretical flow rate from the above equation and
the actual flow rate measured in the laboratory. As in the Venturi
meter case, the difference between these flows is indicated by a
discharge coefficient ,Co, defined as

Co

Qact
.
Qtheo

is uniform [4]. From boundary

2

is transmitted across the

(assumed stagnate) interval from the plug to the pressure port.

Figure 2Cutaway view of the orifice meter [1]

Applying Bernoullis equation to points

layer theory, the pressure of the plug flow at

(9)

very ancientin many of its units. For example, the English inch is a smidgen off an
ancient inch, found for example in the Great Pyramid of Giza. This ancient (at least
3500 years old) inch can be found by dividing the polar diameter of the earth by
500,000,000;
e.g.,

The Turbine-type Flow

Meter: The turbine-type
flow meter consists of a
section of pipe into which a
small turbine is placed. As
the flow travels through the
turbine blades, the turbine
spins at an angular velocity
5

While through a Venturi meter the pressure drop is very small (about 15 to
20 percent of the pressure drop in the throat), its practical application is limited by
its large (long) size. Therefore standardized orifices as shown in Figs. 209 and 210
are used more frequently. The pressure diagrams in these two figures show that with
this kind of apparatus, the loss in pressure is from 60 to 70% of the pressure drop in the
orifice. The velocity coefficient has been found to be 0.96 to 0.98 with the
standardized (German) rounded-approach orifice (Fig. 209). For the sharp-edged
orifice shown in Fig. 210 the coefficient depends very much upon the ratio of the
cross sections a/A. For instance, for a/A = 0.15, we have =0.61, whereas for a/A =
0.75, the velocity coefficient is = 0.91.

( 7899.83mi 5280 ft / mi 12in / ft ) 500,000,000 1.00107in

. Our modern inch has been maintained to with in 0.001in of its original value. Isaac
Newton was aware of this ancient measure and verified two ancient cubits based on its
length.

Figure 4Schematic of the basic

operation of the turbine-type
flow meter [1]
[3]

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Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

proportional to the flow rate. After a certain number of revolutions,

the turbine sends an electrical pulse to a preamplifier which, in turn,
sends the pulse to a digital totalizer. The totalizer in effect sums the
pulses and translates them to a digital readout which gives the
volumetric fluid flow that pass through the meter. In addition, the
totalizer will show the actual flow rate of the fluid. Figure 4 is a
schematic of the turbine-type flow meter.
The Variable Area Meter (Rotameter): The variable area meter
consists of a tapered metering tube and a float that is free to move
inside the tube. The tube is mounted vertically with the inlet at the
bottom. At any flow rate within the operating range of the meter, fluid
entering the bottom raises the float and the tube inside diameter
increases (because of the tapering). The flow rate is indicated by the
float position read against the graduated scale.

Page 4

The data particular to individual meters is discussed next.

Venturi MeterSee warning just above about maxing out the
manometers. Two manometers are associated with this meter. The
first manometer measures the total frictional pressure drop across the
entire length of the Venturi meter, hfric, as a difference in head pressure. The second manometer measures the head pressure difference,
hflow, between points and of Figure 1. From hflow, the theore1

tical volumetric flow rate, Qtheo, can be determined from Equation 6.

For your report, on one graph, plot hflow vs. 6 Qact and hflow vs. Qtheo. On
a separate graph, plot Cv vs. React, (Reynolds number based Qact). In
making this second plot, use an absolute (starting at zero) scale on
the vertical axis. Using a marker, plot the expected discharge
coefficient of 0.9.

Fluid enters the tube from the bottom. As it

enters, it causes the float to rise to a position
of equilibrium. The position of equilibrium
is at the point where the weight of the float is
balanced by the weight of the fluid it
displaces (the buoyant force exerted on the
float by the fluid) and the pressure due to
velocity (dynamic pressure). The higher the
float position the greater the flow rate.
Note that as the float rises, the annular area
formed between the float and the tube
increases. Maximum flow is at maximum
annular area or when the float is at the top of
the tube. Minimum area, of course,
represents minimum flow rate and is when
the float is at the bottom of the tube.
Measure flow at
corner of float

Figure 5The rotameter and its operation [1]

Three common types of graduated scales are:

1. Percent of maximum flowa meter factor is given or determined to convert a scale reading to a flow rate. Many fluids can
be used with the meter, the only variable being the scale factor.
2. Diameter ratio typea calibration curve is associated with the ratio
of the tubes cross-sectional diameter to the diameter of the float.
3. Direct readinga scale shows actual flow rate in the desired units.
Experimental Procedure: The fluid meter apparatus is shown in
Figure 6. It consists of a centrifugal pump that draws water from a tank
and pumps it to any of the four meters. In testing any of the four meters,
the actual flow, Qact, is measured by diverting the flow to the collection tank (volumetric measuring tank) which is graduated in gallons,
and measuring with a stopwatch how long it takes to collect a volume
of water. Strive for collection times in excess of 1 minutea little
extra time spent in collecting good data significantly improves the
quality of the results.
For all four meters, the flow is regulated by the upstream valve. For
several valve positions, record the appropriate meter data that
indicates flow rate, the actual flow rate, and the pressure drop across
the meter, hfric, which is measured with a manometer. Be extremely
careful that the pressure differences to be measured by
manometers are not so great that the water column on either side
of the manometer goes over the top of the inverted U-shaped
manometer tube. Thus, it is recommended that one establishes a
maximum flow that does not cause this problem by adjusting the
upstream valve. Then subsequent, lesser, flow can be set by
slightly closing the valve.

Figure 6Flow Meters Apparatus

Orifice MeterUse the procedure and write up requirements as specified for the Venturi meter. The expected discharge coefficient is 0.8.
Turbine-Type Flow MeterThe totalizer reading is the measure of
indicated or theoretical flow.
The actual flow is still measured
using the collection tank and a
stopwatch. For your report, plot
the measured flow rate against
(vs.) the flow rate reading and
determine and plot a regressed
line of this data all on the same
graph. This is a calibration curve.
The Mathcad linear regression
function is documented at the
right (source Mathcad Help).
RotameterFor the rotameter, record the position of the float, the
pressure drop across the meter, and the measured flow rate. For
your report, plot the measured flow rate vs. indicated flow rate.
Again a calibration curve; but without regression.
Finally, on one graph, plot friction pressure drops, hfrict, across
each meter vs. the actual flow rate through the meter.
6

Remember, to plot A vs. B, B is the independent variable (horizontal axis) and

A is the dependent variable (vertical axis). Thus, A vs. B could be alternately stated as A
as a function of B.

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Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

REFERENCES
1. Flowmeters:

Introduction,

efunda

(engineering

fundamentals),

http://www.efunda.com/DesignStandards/sensors/flowmeters/flowmeter_intro.cfm

2. Simon & Schuster New Millennium Encyc. & Reference Library, 2000
3. Prandtl, L., and Tietjens, O.G., Applied Hydro- and Aeromechanics, Dover
Pubs., 1957. [Based on Prandtls Lectures. Composed by Prandtls

ORDERED DATA, CALCULATIONS, AND RESULTS

Page 5

student, Tietjens, who turned the lecture notes into a text. Translated by J.P.
Den Hartog. First published by United Engineering Trustees, Inc., 1934]
4. Bird, R.B., Stewart, W.E., & Lightfoot, E.N., Transport Phenomena,
John-Wiley & Sons, 1960.
5. Ross, S.M. (1998), A First Course in Probability, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall

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MATHCAD OBJECT--DOUBLE CLICK TO OPEN

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

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CONCLUSIONS

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Page 8

APPENDICES
Appendix AClepsydras (water thief), Ancient Fluid Meters
When one thinks of a fluid meter, they envision a device that
ascertains a flow rate per unit of time. The ancients looked at
flow meters the other way aroundthey used fluid meters to
determine a unit of time per flow rate.
In this experiment, the student used a stopwatch to time a flow
into a catch basin to determine a flow rate. With water clocks, a
known flow rate is used and the tank becomes the stopwatch.

Water Clocks
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology Physics Laboratory

Water clocks were among the earliest timekeepers that didn't depend
on the observation of celestial bodies. One of the oldest was found in
the tomb of Amenhotep I, buried around 1500 BC. Later named
clepsydras (water thief) by the Greeks, who began using them about
325 BC, these were stone vessels with sloping sides that allowed water
to drip at a nearly constant rate from a small hole near the bottom.
Other clepsydras were cylindrical or bowl-shaped containers designed
to slowly fill with water coming in at a constant rate. Markings on the
inside surfaces measured the passage of hours as the water level
reached them. These clocks were used to determine hours at night, but
may have been used in daylight as well. Another version consisted of a
metal bowl with a hole in the bottom; when placed in a container of
water the bowl would fill and sink in a certain time. These were still in
use in North Africa this century.
More elaborate and impressive mechanized water clocks were developped between 100BC and 500 AD by
Greek and Roman horologists and
astronomers. The added complexity
was aimed at making the flow more
constant by regulating the pressure,
and at providing fancier displays of
the passage of time. Some water
clocks rang bells and gongs, others
opened doors and windows to show
little figures of people, or moved
pointers, dials, and astrological
models of the universe.
A Greek astronomer, Andronikos,
supervised the construction of the
Tower of the Winds in Athens in the
1st century BC. This octagonal structure featured a 24-hour clepsydra
A Brief History of Clocks:
and indicators for the eight winds
From Thales to Ptolemy
By: Jesse Weissman
from which the tower got its name,
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Gre
and it displayed the seasons of the
ekScience/Students/Jesse/CLOC
year and astrological dates and
K1A.html
periods. The Romans also developped mechanized clepsydras, though their complexity accomplished
little improvement over simpler methods for determining the passage
of time.
In the Far East, mechanized astronomical/astrological clock making
developed from 200 to 1300 AD. Third-century Chinese clepsydras
drove various mechanisms that illustrated astronomical phenomena.
One of the most elaborate clock towers was built by Su Sung and his
associates in 1088 AD. Su Sung's mechanism incorporated a waterdriven escapement invented about 725 AD. The Su Sung clock tower,
over 30 feet tall, possessed a bronze power-driven armillary sphere for
observations, an automatically rotating celestial globe, and five front
panels with doors that permitted the viewing of changing mannikins
which rang bells or gongs, and held tablets indicating the hour or other
special times of the day.
Since the rate of flow of water is very difficult to control accurately, a
clock based on that flow can never achieve excellent accuracy.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0855491.html

Today, Su-Sung's wonderful

clock. The University of Houston's
College of Engineering presents
this series about the machines
that make our civilization run, and
the people whose ingenuity
created them.
When 16th-century Jesuit missionaries went to China, they found
time-keeping in a deplorable
state. Not even sundials were
reliable! And the clocks they
brought as gifts were seen only as
playthings. Timekeeping was
hardly on China's radar screen.
Of course, the purpose of all
ancient clocks was not so much
The Invention of ClocksPart 2:
the simple telling of time as it was
Sun Clocks, Water Clocks, Obelisks
display. Old clocks typically had
http://inventors.about.com/library/wee
kly/aa071401a.htm
bells and dials, and they displayed
planetary motions.
In the West, water clocks had evolved from remote antiquity until
mechanical clocks finally replaced them seven hundred years ago.
The Greek name for a water clock was clepsydra. That means "a
stealer of water" because all water clocks depended on a steady flow of
water to meter time. Greco-Egyptian engineers of the 2nd century BC
had added feedback control to regulate the water flow. That idea was
carried forward by Arab artisans until the Moors of medieval Spain were
building the finest clocks in the West.
The Chinese had also built water clocks for millennia, but without feedback control. In Western water clocks, a float on the surface of a steadily draining tank drove the displays. But float indicators exerted scant
force for driving extra machinery. The Chinese, on the other hand,
created a new kind of water-wheel-driven clock during the 8th to 11th
centuries. A steady inflow filled buckets around the rim, one at a time.
As each bucket became heavy enough to trip a mechanism, it fell
forward carrying the bucket behind into place under the water spout.
That water wheel provided power to drive displays of lunar cycles, the
movements of the heavens, and time as well.
Those clocks reached their apogee when the emperor of the Sung
dynasty charged an official, Su-Sung, with creating the grandest clock
that'd ever been built. Su-Sung assembled a team and finished the
clock by 1092. It was hugeforty feet high.
The tick-tock motion of the falling buckets has caused some historians
to call it a mechanical clock. But it had nothing resembling the inertial
escapement that began turning European clocks into precision
instruments by 1300. Neither did it have the feedback control of Arab
water clocks.
Invading Tatars stole the clock when they ended the Sung dynasty in
1126. They couldn't get it running again, and the high art of Chinese
clockmaking disappeared. Even before the Tatar invasion, Taoistic
reformers had come into power and let the great clock fall into disrepair.
When Jesuits eventually brought Su-Sung's book on clockmaking
back to Europe, it astonished the West -- even though the escapement
clock was then light-years beyond it.
Su-Sung's clock seems to've been pretty accurate. Whether it reached
the fifteen-minute-a-day accuracy of the best Western water clocks, we
don't know. But, for a time, the Chinese were ahead of the West once
again, with the grandest clock in the world.
I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we're interested
in the way inventive minds work.
Temple, R., The Genius of China. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1986, pp. 103-110.
The following website provides a great deal of information on Su-Sung's clock as well as
detailed drawings in PDF format: http://www.lucknow.com/horus/etexts/susung1.html.

by John H. Lienhard, Engines of Our Ingenuity 1580

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1580.htm

The Water Clock

SU-SUNG'S CLOCK

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Besides the gnomon or sundial, the Egyptians used the water clock,
which had the advantage over the former of showing time during the
night as well as during the day.
A complete example was found in the Amon Temple of Karnak
(Thebes), 25.5 north of the equator. This water clock dates from the
time of Amenhotep III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, father of Ikhnaton.
The jar has an opening through which water flows out; marks are
incised on the inner surface of the jar to indicate the time. Since the
Egyptian day was divided into hours which changed in length with the
length of the day, the jar has different sets of markings for the various
seasons of the year. Four time points are prominently important: the
autumnal equinox, the winter solstice, the vernal equinox, and the
summer solstice. The equinoxes have equal days and nights in all
latitudes. But on the solstices, when either the day or the night is the
longest of the year, the length of the daylight varies with the latitude:
the farther from the equator, the greater is the difference between the
day and the night on the day of the solstice. This difference also
depends on the inclination of the equator to the plane of the orbit or
ecliptic, which is at present 23 . Should this inclination change, or in
other words, should the polar axis change its astronomical position
(direction), or should the polar axis change its geographical position
with each pole shifting to another point, the length of the day and night
(on any day except the equinoxes) would change, too.
The water clock of Amenhotep III presented its investigator with a very
strange time scale.7 Calculating the length of the day of the winter solstice, he found that the clock was constructed for a day of 11 hours 18
minutes, whereas the day of the solstice at 25 north latitude is 10 hours
26 minutes, a difference of fifty-two minutes. Similarly, the builder of the
clock reckoned the night of the winter solstice to be 12 hours 42 minutes, where as it is 13 hours 34 minutesfifty-two minutes too short.
On the summer solstice, the longest day, the clock anticipated a day of
12 hours 48 minutes, where as it is 13 hours and 41 minutes, and a
night of 11 hours 12 minutes, where as it is 10 hours 19 minutes.
On the vernal and autumnal equinoxes the day is 11 hours and 56
minutes long, and the clock actually shows 11 hours and 56 minutes;
the night is 12 hours 4 minutes long, and the clock show exactly 12
hours 4 minutes.
The difference between the present values and the values of the day
for which the clock is adjusted is very consistent: on the winter solstice
the day of the clock is fifty-two minutes longer than the present day of
the winter solstice in Karnak, and the night is fifty-two minutes
shorter; on the summer solstice the day is fifty-three minutes shorter
on the clock and the night fifty-three minutes longer.
The figures on the clock show a smaller difference between the
length of the daylight on the solstices or between the longest and
the shortest days of the year than is observed at Karnak at the
present time. Thus the water clock of Amenhotep III, if it was
correctly built and correctly interpreted, indicates either that Thebes
was closer to the equator or that the inclination of the equator
toward the ecliptic was less than the present angle of 23 . In
either case the climate of the latitudes of Egypt could not have been
the same as it is in our age.
As we find from the present research, the clock of Amenhotep III
became obsolete in the middle of the eighth century; and the clock
that might have replaced it at that time would have been make
obsolete in the catastrophes of the end of the eighth and the
beginning of the seventh centuries, when once more the axis
changed its direction in the sky and its position on the globe as well.
Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky,
Delta Book (Dell Publishing Co.), Inc., 1950

In 1952, this was on the New York Times Best Seller list. Despite this,
Velikovsky upset academics in many fieldshistory, religion,
astronomy (including physics), . Those of astronomy [see below],
told Velikovskys then publisher that if they continued to publish the
book that their schools would no longer purchase that publishers
textbooks. The publisher caved. So much for academic freedom.
Most academics and pedestrians having not read this and subsequent
works formed their opinions from hearsay. Einstein was no different at
first. Once Velikovsky, who also lived in Princeton, got Einsteins atten7

L. Borchardt, Die altgyptische Zeitrechnung (1920), pp. 6-25.

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tion, Einstein felt that there was much to Velikovskys interdisciplinary

study and his hypotheses deserved much more research. This does
not mean that Einstein fully agreed with Velikovsky; instead, the
weight of evidence more than justified further investigation. Einstein
wrote the following:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Velikovsky!
At the occasion of this inauspicious birthday [Einsteins], you have
presented me once more with the fruits of an almost eruptive
productivity. I look forward with pleasure to reading the historical book
that does not bring into danger the toes of my guild. How it stands with
the toes of the other faculty [the book, Ages in Chaos, would upset the
historians], I do not know as yet. I think of the touching prayer: Holy St.
Florian, spare my house, put fire to others!
I have already read carefully the first volume of the memoirs to Worlds
in Collisions and have supplied it with a few marginal notes in pencil
that can easily be erased. I admire your dramatic talent and also the art
and the straight forwardness of Thackeray [Thackrey], who has
compelled the roaring astronomical lion [Shapley] to pull in a little his
royal tail, yet not showing enough respect for the truth. Also, I would
feel happy if you could savor the whole episode for its humorous side.
Unimaginable letter debts and unread manuscripts that were sent in,
force me to be brief. Many thanks to both of you and friendly wishes.
Your
A. Einstein
Velikovsky Reconsidered, by the editors of Pense
Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1966

If this person has the story correct, Einstein told Velikovsky that he must
make scientific predictions based on his historical research if his
hypothesis of early history was ever to get scientific attention. One of
Vs predictions was that there was an electromagnetic belt around the
earth. At the time, astronomers considered the mechanisms of the
solar system and universe to be governed simply by Newtonian gravitational phenomena. Velikovsky proposed that electromagnetic attractions / repulsions also were in play. This greatly incensed astronomers
being instructed by someone outside their field. Yet, early space
exploration did indeed establish the existence of such an electromagnetic beltit is known to us today as the van Allen radiation belt.
The historical appendices to these labs have been added for a reason.
They exist to help round out the student. Think of them as brain candy
light facts that you will not be tested on. But, there is a further reason.
Velikovskys works were truly interdisciplinaryincorporating history,
astronomy, cosmology, psychology, geology, and paleontology. With
such a broad base, he was able to advance truly astounding ideas.
Maybe one of you might catch the bug. There is often money to be
made where two fields overlap. More important than money, however,
is the excitement of truly unearthing something new not just
developing a better brake system.
Using a water clock and an inclined plane, Galileo was able to determine the
rate of acceleration due to gravity. by timing how long it takes for the ball to
roll from the marked distances.
[He found that] it takes one unit of time for the ball to roll one unit of distance,
two units of time to roll four units of distance, three units of time for the ball to
roll nine units of distance, .
NovaGalileos Battle for the Heavens
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/expe_inpl_2.html#clock
Galileo made an amazing contribution to timekeeping, simply by not paying
attention in church. In 1581, Galileo was 17 and he was standing in the Cathedral of Pisa watching a huge chandelier swinging back and forth from the
ceiling. Galileo noticed that no matter how short or long the arc of the chandelier was, it took exactly the same amount of time to complete a full swing.
The chandelier gave Galileo the idea to create a pendulum clock. While the
clock would eventually run of energy, it would keep accurate time until the
pendulum stopped. If the pendulum was set swinging again before it stopped,
there would never be a loss in accuracy. Because of this, pendulums caught
on and are still widely used today. The History of Time
http://library.thinkquest.org/C008179/historical/basichistory.html#galileo

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Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

Page 10

APPENDIX BDATA SHEET FOR FLOW METERS

Time/Date:

___________________

Lab Partners

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

hflow

hfriction

inH20

inH20

hflow

hfriction

inH20

inH20

Flow Indicated
by Counter, %

hfriction

Venturi Meter:

Water in tank
gal.

Time
s.

Water in tank
gal.

Time
s.

Water in tank
gal.

Time
s.

Water in tank
gal.

Time
s.

d
d
d
d
d
Orifice Meter:

d
d
d
d
d
Turbine Flow Meter:

100% = _________ gpm

d
d
d
d
d

Rotameter:

100% = _________ gpm

inH20

% of Flow

d
d
d
d
d

hfriction
inH20

Last Rev.: 12 JUL 08

Flow Meters Lab : MIME 3470

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