At this point in the unit, students have learned about Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle, Bernoulli's principle, and why above-ground storage tanks are of major concern in the Houston Ship Channel and other coastal areas. In this culminating activity, student groups act as engineering design teams to derive equations to determine the stability of specific above-ground storage tank scenarios with given tank specifications and liquid contents. With their floatation analyses completed and the stability determined, students analyze the tank stability in specific storm conditions. Then, teams are challenged to come up with improved storage tank designs to make them less vulnerable to uplift, displacement and buckling in storm conditions. Teams present their analyses and design ideas in short class presentations.

Students are provided with an introduction to above-ground storage tanks, specifically how and why they are used in the Houston Ship Channel. The introduction includes many photographic examples of petrochemical tank failures during major storms and describes the consequences in environmental pollution and costs to disrupted businesses and lives, as well as the lack of safety codes and provisions to better secure the tanks in coastal regions regularly visited by hurricanes. Students learn how the concepts of Archimedes' principle and Pascal's law act out in the form of the uplifting and buckling seen in the damaged and destroyed tanks, which sets the stage for the real-world engineering challenge presented in the associated activity to design new and/or improved storage tanks that can survive storm conditions.

Students are introduced to Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle and Bernoulli's principle. Fundamental definitions, equations, practice problems and engineering applications are supplied. A PowerPoint® presentation, practice problems and grading rubric are provided.

This webpage from Exploratorium provides an activity that demonstrates the Bernoulli principle with readily available materials. In this activity a table tennis ball is levitated in a stream of air from a vacuum cleaner. The site provides an explanation of what happens, asks questions about the activity, and also describes applications to flight. This activity is part of Exploratorium's Science Snacks series.

The topic of fluid mechanics is common to several disciplines: mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, and civil engineering. In fact, it is also related to disciplines like industrial engineering, and electrical engineering. While the emphasis is somewhat different in this book, the common material is presented and hopefully can be used by all. One can only admire the wonderful advances done by the previous geniuses who work in this field. In this book it is hoped to insert, what and when a certain model is suitable than other models.

Design of shoreline protection along rivers, canals and the sea; load on bed and shoreline by currents, wind waves and ship motion; stability of elements under current and wave conditions; stability of shore protection elements; design methods, construction methods. Flow: recapitulation of basics from fluid mechanics (flow, turbulence), stability of individual grains (sand, but also rock) in different type of flow conditions (weirs, jets), scour and erosion. Porous Media: basic equation, pressures and velocities on the stability on the boundary layer; groundwater flow with impermeable and semi-impermeable structures; granular filters and geotextiles. Waves: recapitulation of the basics of waves, focus on wave forces on the land-water boundary, specific aspects of ship induced waves, stability of elements under wave action (loose rock, placed blocks, impermeable layers) Design: overview of the various types of protections, construction and maintenance; design requirements, deterministic and probabilistic design; case studies, examples Materials and environment: overview of materials to be used, interaction with the aquatic environment, role of the land-water boundary as part of the ecosystem; environmentally sound shoreline design.

This activity is a scientific investigation focusing on inquiry after using the Foss Water Kit. The students will pose a question, create a procedure and produce a poster showing their findings.

Demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle using balloons and and pop cans. Real world concept of lift can be applied to an airplane demonstration.

Bernoulli's principle relates the pressure of a fluid to its elevation and its speed. Bernoulli's equation can be used to approximate these parameters in water, air or any fluid that has very low viscosity. Students learn about the relationships between the components of the Bernoulli equation through real-life engineering examples and practice problems.

Biomimetics is based on the belief that nature, at least at times, is a good engineer. Biomimesis is the scientific method of learning new principles and processes based on systematic study, observation and experimentation with live animals and organisms. This Freshman Advising Seminar on the topic is a way for freshmen to explore some of MIT’s richness and learn more about what they may want to study in later years.

This activity is a lab where students gather data on buoyant force and height of and object being submerged in two different types of fluids. The slope of the buoyant force and height is proportional to the density of the fluid. Students compare the densities of the fluids calculated with the actual densities.

Students observe Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle and the ideal gas law as a Cartesian diver moves within a closed system. The Cartesian diver is neutrally buoyant and begins to sink when an external pressure is applied to the closed system. A basic explanation and proof of this process is provided in this activity, and supplementary ideas for more extensive demonstrations and independent group activities are presented.

Why do objects like wood float in water? Does it depend on size? Create a custom object to explore the effects of mass and volume on density. Can you discover the relationship? Use the scale to measure the mass of an object, then hold the object under water to measure its volume. Can you identify all the mystery objects?

Students will design, build and test a hot air balloon of their choosing. Students will construct and test components in order find three component optimum design features for final assembly.

This is an inquiry-based activity in which students will need to work together as a class to solve the following problem: they must construct a "boat" entirely out of modeling clay that is capable of supporting 150 grams of cargo without sinking.

This course covers: Fundamental concepts; fluid statics; fluid dynamics; Bernoulli's equation; control-volume analysis; basic flow equations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy; differential analysis; potential flow; viscous incompressible flow.

This subject provides an introduction to fluid mechanics. Students are introduced to and become familiar with all relevant physical properties and fundamental laws governing the behavior of fluids and learn how to solve a variety of problems of interest to civil and environmental engineers. While there is a chance to put skills from calculus and differential equations to use in this subject, the emphasis is on physical understanding of why a fluid behaves the way it does. The aim is to make the students think as a fluid. In addition to relating a working knowledge of fluid mechanics, the subject prepares students for higher-level subjects in fluid dynamics.

This book covers the requisite theory for the basic study of fluid mechanics at low speeds. This book is unique in that it integrates engineering computation using the popular technical software MATLAB, and the free counterpart Octave. Programming is by example throughout the book. Prior knowledge of programming is not necessary. This book reviews prerequisite topics prior to teaching the subject matter. This book introduces the physics of fluid mechanics based on first principles. It develops the mathematical relations and model of fluid flow so that problems can be defined and solved.

The translation of natural laws into mathematical models includes two approaches. The integral approach is simple though limited. This approach uses assumptions and simplifications that makes it easy to apply and acquire a solution; however, that solutionwill lack detail and merely provide average or overall values. Thus, the integral approach is inadequate for understanding or designing complex fluid systems. On the other hand, it may provide an approximate value with limited effort. It may be able to establish bounds around the true value.

The differential approach is complex but expansive. The solution is established at every point in the flow domain, making it possible to include specific local effects and special properties of the flow.

The topics in this book are illustrated with examples, with most solved by computation. The premise of this book is that science and mathematical concepts are best understood through graphics; therefore, software illustrates solutions through graphical programming. Students are taught and encouraged to explore solutions through graphics.

Essential Fluids With MATLAB and Octave - Part 2 (Applications) will include design and applications based on simple parameterized models that rely mostly on algebra. These are input/output models which are infused with parameters based on empirical data that are read off charts or interpolated from tables.

Explore the concept of evaporative cooling through a hands-on experiment. Use a wet cloth and fan to model an air-conditioner and use temperature and relative humidity sensors to collect data. Then digitally plot the data using graphs in the activity. In an optional extension, make your own modifications to improve the cooler's efficiency.

Flowvis.org documents the course materials and student-created OER from the University of Colorado Boulder's Mechanical Engineering course on the physics and art of fluid flows. Students create and document images and videos of gases and liquids, and all work is published under a Creative Commons license. Lecture notes, lecture videos, course documents (syllabi, schedule, assignments) and the accompanying textbook are also published.