Poiseuille's principle vs flow rate continuity equation

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

xsoppy

Full Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Messages
35
Reaction score
11
I'm confused with how according to the poiseuille's equation as you increase the radius the flow rate also increases, but according to Q = A1v1 = A2v2 the avg speed and area on each side should be inverse


Maybe I'm misunderstanding the difference between Q and v? Or does poiseuille's not apply when the area of the pipe changes?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I'm confused with how according to the poiseuille's equation as you increase the radius the flow rate also increases, but according to Q = A1v1 = A2v2 the avg speed and area on each side should be inverse


Maybe I'm misunderstanding the difference between Q and v? Or does poiseuille's not apply when the area of the pipe changes?

Q is the flow rate, i.e. how much volume flows through a pipe per unit of time. v on the other hand is measuring the speed at which particles of fluid move through (not a volume but just a speed). As you can imagine, if you have fluid moving faster through a pipe, you expect more fluid to go through per unit time, hence when v increases, so does Q.

What happens when I expand the radius of my pipe? There's much more area for my fluid to flow through, hence Q increases (as seen in Poiseuille's law).

Furthermore, try reading through this and see if it clears things up: Fluid Dynamics - Continuity vs Poiseuille
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Q is the flow rate, i.e. how much volume flows through a pipe per unit of time. v on the other hand is measuring the speed at which particles of fluid move through (not a volume but just a speed). As you can imagine, if you have fluid moving faster through a pipe, you expect more fluid to go through per unit time, hence when v increases, so does Q.

What happens when I expand the radius of my pipe? There's much more area for my fluid to flow through, hence Q increases (as seen in Poiseuille's law).

Furthermore, try reading through this and see if it clears things up: Fluid Dynamics - Continuity vs Poiseuille
That cleared it up a lot thank you
 
Top