Introduction
This experiment is designed to determine the volumetric flow rate of air using a Venturi and Pitot tube. These are different apparatus each with different functions, but both can be used to obtain an accurate value of the volumetric flow rate of air. These two methods will be adopted and the results will be compared in order to evaluate their reliability and draw any other interpretations. Background and theory
In order to calculate the flow rate, one must manipulate the Bernoulli and Continuity principles. The Bernoulli principle states that a fluid’s speed is inversely proportional to its pressure (assuming that the fluid is an ideal fluid, has steady flow, is streamline, and has no external forces acting on it) [1]. The equation…show more content… Figure 7. Scatter graph showing the comparison of both techniques of obtaining volumetric flow rate: Discussion
The results of the experiment have clearly demonstrated that both the Venturi and Pitot tube have produced very different volumetric flow rate values. The flow rate values obtained with the Pitot tube are observed be smaller than the ones obtained using a Venturi by a factor of close to around three. This is a large factor, considering that theoretically they should be equal. This completely goes against the Bernoulli and Continuity principles which state that the volumetric flow rate of a fluid remains constant in a closed…show more content… The percentage uncertainty in the measuring equipment does not account for this difference, and therefore cannot justify any similarity in the values. This clearly contradicts the Bernoulli and Continuity principle, which state that the volumetric flow rate remains constant throughout the entire course of the pipe. There was a however a high degree of precision in the results for each method, as demonstrated by the 99.5% and 97.5% confidence intervals, for the Venturi and Pitot tube respectively, indicating a strong linear relationship for each