VERIFICATION OF BERNOULLIS THEOREM

Description of the Equipment:

The Bernoullis theorem demonstration mainly composed by a circular section conduit
with the shape of a truncated cone, transparent and with seven pressure valves that are able to
measure, simultaneously, the static pressure corresponding to each point of the seven
sections. There is a Pitot tube running along the conduit for measuring the dynamic pressure
head in every section.
The flow rate and the pressure in the equipment can be modified by adjusting the
control valve and by using the supply valve in the hydraulic bench.

No return,
Purge

Manometers

Pitots Tube

CCV Valve

CV

Theoretical Basis:
Bernoullis Equation:
Considering the flow in two different sections of a pipe, and applying the law of
conservation of energy, Bernoullis equation can be written as

(1)
Where in this equipment,

That is, we want to demonstrate with these practices that in the given pipe with two
sections, 1 and 2, the energy between the sections is constant. The sum of the three previous
terms is constant and so, Bernoullis theorem can be shown as:

In the above analysis the viscous effects neglected. If viscous effects are important the
velocity of the particles decrease and the energy of the system is converted into heat, an
additional head loss term due to friction has to be added to the RHS of (1) as shown below.
We consider that
sections, so

is the pressure loss due to viscous effects between the two

where

is the potential loss.

With this, the modified equation, known as the Steady flow energy equation is

Filling the Manometric tubes:

In this section, the correct procedure to fill the manometric tubes is explained.
1. Close the flow control valve on the hydraulic bench (CV) and the flow control
valve of the equipment (CCV).
2. Switch on the water pump and completely open the CCV valve. Now slowly open
the CV valve. Fill the manometer tubes completely and make sure that there are no
air bubbles in the tubes.
3. Now close the CCV valve and then the CV valve. Make sure the valves are opened
or closed in the mentioned order.
4. Now switch off the water pump.
5. Operate the non-return valve or the purge valve.
6. Now slowly open the CCV valve.
7. Slowly water will drain from the manometer tubes. When the same water level is
observed in all the manometer tubes, close the non-return valve and close the CCV
valve.
Verification of Bernoullis Theorem:
In this section, the experimental procedure to explain the Bernoullis theorem is
explained.
1. Open the CV valve. Now turn on the water pump and slowly open the CCV
valve to obtain the required water flow rate (Q) and note down the value.
2. Move the Pitots tube carefully to the required section.
3. Wait till the water levels in the manometer tubes stabilize.
4. Note the water level (hs) in the manometer tube corresponding to the section
where the Pitots tube is positioned.
5. Note the water level (
) in the manometer connected to the Pitots tube.
6. Calculate the water level difference in the tubes.
7. Calculate the flow velocity (V) at the corresponding section.
8. Repeat the above steps at different tube sections and for different flow velocities
and tabulate the values.
9. The values of total head must be almost equal for different flow rates at
different sections.

Flow
rate(Q),

Secti
on

Area
(A),

Velocity
(V=Q/A),

Dynamic
pressure
head

Static pr
head (hs)
of
water

m of water

Total Head
(V2/2g +
hs),m

The values of the area at different sections are given in the table below.
Section
Area(

2.1723

0.7934

0.8429

1.3729

1.4034

2.6557

3.7168

Plot the following graphs:

1. Plot the variation of static pressure head, dynamic pressure head and the sum of these
two heads as a function of horizontal distance along the pipe axis on the same plot.
Answer the following questions
1. Which pressure heads, among the static and the dynamics pressures heads, is larger in
your experiments? Why is this so? Is the opposite case from what you observe
possible? When will both pressure heads be equal?
2. How should hpT relate to the dynamic pressure head?
3. Is the sum of static and dynamic pressure head constant? If not why?
4. Estimate the frictional losses between the first tap and the last tap from the variation
of the sum of static and dynamics pressure heads along the pipe axis.
5. From your variation of static pressure head along the pipe, comment on whether flow
can occur from a region of lower static pressure to a region of higher static pressure.
If yes, why? If no, why not?