Water at room temperature flows steadily through two horizontal tubes
PHYSICS · Single correct · CBSE · Physics · Mechanical Properties of Fluids · Mechanical Properties of Fluids
Problem
Water at room temperature flows steadily through two horizontal tubes. Tube A is wide, while Tube B is extremely narrow. Which of the following best explains why predictions based on the ideal-fluid model are less accurate for Tube B than for Tube A?
(a) In Tube B, compressibility effects dominate because the water is squeezed into a smaller volume, so the incompressibility assumption of the ideal model fails.
(b) In Tube B, the pressure becomes practically uniform along the tube’s length, eliminating the pressure gradient required for flow in the ideal model.
(c) In Tube B, viscous forces become comparable to pressure forces, so energy losses that the ideal model ignores are significant.
(d) In Tube B, laminar flow is impossible, so Bernoulli’s equation—believed (incorrectly) to apply only to turbulent flow—breaks down.