Velocity of water out of reservoir.

John09

I have a cylindrical tank and I know that the efflux speed is proportional to the square root of the depth of the hole from the surface. So u=k sqrt(w). I need to algebraically determine the constant or k in that situation. Has anyone got any ideas as to how I should approach this? I was thinking that I could try and find the acceleration in i and j components and integrate it for velocity but didn't get far.

Thanks for any help.

cjl

If you're ignoring the viscous effects, the efflux speed will be such that the dynamic pressure is equal to the static pressure just inside the hole. Dynamic pressure is 1/2*rho*v², so rearranging for v, we can get that v = sqrt(2*p/rho). Since the pressure in a tank is simply from hydrostatic equilibrium (P = rho*g*h), we can plug in for P:

v = sqrt(2*rho*g*h/rho) = sqrt(2*g*h).

So, your constant is sqrt(2g).

John09

Hm I don't think taking pressure into account is necessary as it is not part of our coursework.

CDCraig123

If you want to know the velocity in fluid dynamics you need to know 2 things. Volume and pressure to find velocity. Unless you can invent some kinda new math cjl is right.