Sturzstrom in the upper rhône valley, Switzerland, 1584

Bernoulli's equation relates the energy conservation in a fluid moving along a streamline. The equation applies to incompressible and inviscid fluids under steady flow. For such a flow, Newton's second law is applied to a small fluid element, which experiences forces due to pressure differences, gravity, and velocity variations. The force balance leads to the following form of Bernoulli's equation:

Couette flow represents the flow of fluid between two parallel plates, with one plate fixed and the other moving with a constant velocity. This configuration allows for a simplified analysis using the Navier-Stokes equations, which govern fluid motion under conditions of viscosity and incompressibility. For Couette flow, the assumptions include a steady, laminar, incompressible flow with a zero-pressure gradient in the flow direction. This flow type is beneficial for understanding shear-driven...

Turbulent flow is characterized by unpredictable fluctuations in velocity and pressure, which result in a chaotic fluid movement distinct from the orderly patterns of laminar flow. While laminar flow is governed by smooth, parallel layers with minimal mixing, turbulent flow exhibits highly irregular, three-dimensional patterns. This behavior arises due to instabilities in the fluid's velocity profile, and amplifies as the flow velocity increases. Minor disturbances, known as turbulent spots,...

Bernoulli's equation for flow normal to a streamline explains how pressure varies across curved streamlines due to the outward centrifugal forces induced by the fluid's curvature. The pressure is higher on the inner side of the curve, near the center of curvature, and decreases outward to balance these centrifugal forces.
The pressure difference depends on the fluid's velocity and radius of curvature. The pressure variation is minimal in flows with nearly straight streamlines. However, the...

Bernoulli's equation incorporates how fluid pressure changes across a static, incompressible fluid by equating the kinetic energy contribution to zero. It is also helpful in analyzing horizontal flows in which the gravitational energy density is constant throughout. The latter equation is so useful that it is called Bernoulli's principle. According to Bernoulli's principle, the fluid pressure drops if the speed increases and vice versa.
Bernoulli's principle has several applications. It is used...