Recent content by Colin the Engineer

Force in an electromagnetic field is something I was considering for giving an impulse to a pendulum; the issue being one of trying to minimise escapement error by zeroing the force around the bottom of the swing. My solution to calculating force was to calculate the rate of change of energy...

If the piping is long enough and/or the viscosity is really high then you might see a small increase in flow rate because of a decrease in frictional pressure drop from the increase in diameter and reduction in velocity. But with normal assumptions I would expect to see a negligible change in...

The auto siphon used in a urinal is more complicated than the simple model above and I'm still scratching my head about how exactly it works. There is this amusing YouTube video on this valve, With regards to using physics to calculate exactly how these things work ... well the equations are...

As the tank fills the water level will eventually reach the top of the inner tube and spill over the top. What happens next? To begin with the water rate down the inner tube will match the fill rate of the tank. However if the water flowing down the inner tube succeeds in dragging a little air...