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Mechanical Engineering Department

JJ309: Fluid Mechanic

NOTES - CHAPTER 1 (FLUID AND PROPERTIES)

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
CLO 1:

explain clearly the characteristics of fluid

CLO 2:
solve problems correctly related to fluid properties, fluid statics
and fluid dynamics
CLO 3: explain the theory of fluid mechanics related to engineering field in
group

Fluid

a fluid is a substance that continually deforms (flows) under

an applied shear stress.

Definition of stress:
- A stress is defined as a force per unit area, acting on
aninfinitesimal surface element.
- Stresses have both magnitude(force per unit area) and direction,
and the direction is relative to the surface on which the stress acts.
- There are normal stresses and tangential stresses.

A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously under the action

of shearing forces, however small they may be. Conversely, if a fluid
is at rest, there can be no shearing forces acting and, therefore, all
forces in the fluid must be perpendicular to the planes upon which
they act.

Fluid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics is a section of applied mechanics, concerned with

the static and dynamics of liquids and gases. Fluid mechanics deals
with the study of all fluids under static and dynamic situations.
Fluid mechanics is a branch of continuous mechanics which deals
with a relationship between forces, motions, and statical conditions
in a continuous material.

Mechanical Engineering Department

JJ309: Fluid Mechanic

WHAT IS PRESSURE?
Fluid will exert a normal force on any boundary it is in contact with.
Since these boundaries may be large and the force may differ from
place to place it is convenient to work in terms of pressure, p,
which is the force per unit area.

pressure

Force
Area over which the force is applied

TYPES OF PRESSURE
Atmospheric Pressure ( patm) :
The pressure due to atmosphere at the surface of the earth depends upon
the head of the air above the surface.
Gauge Pressure ( pG ) :
It is the pressure, measured with the help of a pressure measuring
instrument, in which the atmospheric pressure is taken as datum. In other
words the atmospheric pressure at the gauge scale is marked zero.
Absolute Pressure ( pA )
It is the pressure that equals to the algebraic sum of the atmospheric and
gauge pressures.

Absolute pressure Gauge pressure Atmospheric pressure

p A p G p atm
Vacuum ( pv )
A completely empty space where the pressure is zero.

Mechanical Engineering Department

JJ309: Fluid Mechanic

FLUID PROPERTIES
PROPERTIES
Mass density

Specific weight

Mass density=

FORMULA

SYMBOL

mass
volume

Sp ecific weight=

weight mass g
=
volume volume

Mass density g

Specific gravity,
relative density

Specific gravity=

Specific volume

Viscosity

Mass density subs

Mass density water

Specific volume=

Viscosity=

Specific weight subs

Specific weight water

volume
mass

Viscosity coefficient
density

m
v

W mg
=
v
v

UNIT
kg
m3
kg
m3

= g

s=

subs
water

subs
water

v
m

m3
kg

m2
s