PHY-1201 AAA

Buoyancy
The upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an immersed object in a fluid is
called upthrust or buoyant force and the phenomenon is called buoyancy.
Buoyancy
When a body is partially or fully immersed in a fluid, it displaces a certain amount of fluid. The
displaced fluid exerts an upward force on the body. The upward force exerted by a fluid that
opposes the weight of an immersed object in a fluid is called upthrust or buoyant force and the
phenomenon is called buoyancy.
Archimedes principle:

It states that when a body is partially or wholly immersed in a fluid, it experiences an upward thrust
equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by it and its upthrust acts through the center of gravity
of the liquid displaced.
upthrust or buoyant force = weight of liquid displaced.
Law of floatation
It is well-known that boats, ships, and some wooden objects move on the upper part of the water,
we say they float. Floatation can be defined as the tendency of an object to rise up to the upper
levels of the fluid or to stay on the surface of the fluid.
The law of floatation states that a body will float in a liquid if the weight of the liquid displaced
by the immersed part of the body equals the weight of the body. For example, a wooden object
weighs 300 kg (about 3000 N) floats in water displaces 300 kg (about 3000 N) of water.

1
PHY-1201 AAA

Example: A cube of wood floating in water supports a 300 g mass at the center of its top face.
When the mass is removed, the cube rises by 3 cm. Determine the volume of the cube.
Solution: Let each side of the cube be ‘l’. The volume occupied by 3 cm depth of cube,
V=(3cm) × l2 = 3l2cm
According to the principle of floatation, we have
Vρg = mg ⇒ Vρ = m
ρ is density of water = 1000 kgm-3
(3l2 × 10-2m) × (1000 kgm-3) = 300 × 10-3 kg

l = 10 × 10-2m = 10 cm
Therefore, volume of cube V = l3 = 1000 cm3.
Examples of floating bodies:
i) A person can swim in sea water more easily than in river water.
ii) Ice floats on water.
iii) The ship is made of steel but its interior is made hollow by giving it a concave shape.

2
PHY-1201 AAA

Viscosity
A fluid in motion is a complex phenomenon, as it possesses potential, kinetic, and gravitational
energy besides causing friction viscous forces to come into play.
A fluid in motion is a complex phenomenon, as it possesses potential, kinetic, and gravitational
energy besides causing friction viscous forces to come into play. Therefore, it is necessary to
consider the case of an ideal liquid to simplify the task. An ideal liquid is incompressible (i.e., bulk
modulus is infinity) and in which no shearing forces can be maintained (i.e., the coefficient of
viscosity is zero).
Most of the fluids offer resistance towards motion. A frictional force acts at the contact surface
when a fluid moves relative to a solid or when two fluids move relative to each other. This
resistance to fluid motion is similar to the friction produced when a solid moves on a surface. The
internal friction existing between the layers of a moving fluid is viscosity. So, viscosity is defined
as ‘the property of a fluid to oppose the relative motion between its layers’.
Cause of Viscosity
Consider a liquid flowing through a horizontal surface with two neighboring layers. The upper
layer tends to accelerate the lower layer and in turn, the lower layer tends to retard the upper layer.
As a result, a backward tangential force is set-up. This tends to destroy the relative motion. This
accounts for the viscous behavior of fluids.

Coefficient of Viscosity
Consider a liquid flowing steadily over a horizontal fixed layer (Figure 7.15). The velocities of the
layers increase uniformly as we move away from the fixed layer. Consider any two parallel layers
A and B. Let v and v + dv be the velocities of the neighboring layers at distances x and x +
dx respectively from the fixed layer.

3
PHY-1201 AAA

The force of viscosity F acting tangentially between two layers is given by Newton’s First law.
This force is proportional to (i) area A of the liquid and (ii) the velocity gradient dv/dx

Where the constant of proportionality η is called the coefficient of viscosity of the liquid and the
negative sign implies that the force is frictional and it opposes the relative motion. The dimensional
formula for coefficient of viscosity is [ML−1T−1].
Example 7.9
A metal plate of area 2.5×10-4 m2 is placed on a 0.25×10-3m thick layer of castor oil. If a force of
2.5 N is needed to move the plate with a velocity 3×10-2 ms-1, calculate the coefficient of viscosity
of castor oil.
Given: A=2.5×10-4 m2, dx = 0.25×10-3m, F=2.5N and dv = 3×10-2 ms-1
Solution:

4
PHY-1201 AAA

Streamlined flow
The flow of fluids occurs in different ways. It can be a steady or streamlined flow, unsteady or
turbulent flow, compressible or incompressible flow or even viscous or non- viscous flow. For
example, consider a calm flow of water through a river. Careful observation reveals that the
velocity of water at different locations of the river is quite different. It is almost faster at the center
and slowest near the banks. However, the velocity of the particle at any point is constant. For better
understanding, assume that the velocity of the particle is about 4 meter per second at the center of
the river. Hence it will be of the same value for all other particles crossing through this point. In a
similar way, if the velocity of the particle flowing near the bank of the river is 0.5 meter per second,
then the succeeding particles flowing through it will have the same value.
When a liquid flow such that each particle of the liquid passing through a point moves along the
same path with the same velocity as its predecessor then the flow of liquid is said to be
a streamlined flow. It is also referred to as steady or laminar flow. The actual path taken by the
particle of the moving fluid is called a streamline, which is a curve, the tangent to which at any
point gives the direction of the flow of the fluid at that point as shown in Figure 7.16. It is named
so because the flow looks like the flow of a stream or river under ideal conditions.
If we assume a bundle of streamlines having the same velocity over any cross section perpendicular
to the direction of flow then such bundle is called a ‘tube of flow’.

Thus, it is important to note that any particle in a tube of flow always remains in the tube
throughout its motion and cannot mix with liquid in another tube. Always the axis of the tube of
flow gives the streamline. The streamlines always represent the trajectories of the fluid particles.
The flow of fluid is streamlined up to a certain velocity called critical velocity. This means a steady
flow can be achieved at low flow speeds below the critical speed.
Turbulent flow
When the speed of the moving fluid exceeds the critical speed, vc the motion becomes turbulent.
In this case, the velocity changes both in magnitude and direction from particle to particle and
hence the individual particles do not move in a streamlined path. Hence, the path taken by the

5
PHY-1201 AAA

particles in turbulent flow becomes erratic and whirlpool-like circles called eddy current or eddies
(Figure 7.17 (a) and (b)). The flow of water just behind a boat or a ship and the air flow behind a
moving bus are a few examples of turbulent flow.
The distinction between the two types of motion can be easily demonstrated by injecting a jet of
ink axially in a wide tube through which water flows. When the velocity of the fluid is small the
ink will move in a straight-line path. Conversely, when the velocity is increased beyond a certain
value, the ink will spread out showing the disorderliness and hence the motion becomes turbulent.
The zig-zag motion results in the formation of eddy currents and as a consequence, much energy
is dissipated.

Reynold’s number
We have learnt that the flow of a fluid becomes steady or laminar when the velocity of flow is less
than the critical velocity vc otherwise, the flow becomes turbulent. Osborne Reynolds (1842-1912)
formulated an equation to find out the nature of the flow of fluid, whether it is streamlined or
turbulent.

It is a dimensionless number called ‘Reynold’s number’. It is denoted by the symbol Rc or K. In

the equation, ρ denotes the density of the fluid, v the velocity of the flowing fluid, D is the diameter

6
PHY-1201 AAA

of the pipe in which the fluid flow and η is the coefficient of viscosity of the fluid. The value of
Rc remains the same in any system of units.

Hence, Reynold’s number Rc is a critical variable, which decides whether the flow of a fluid
through a cylindrical pipe is streamlined or turbulent. In fact, the critical value of Rc at which the
turbulent sets found to be the same for geometrically similar flows. For example, when two liquids
(say oil and water) of different densities and viscosities flow in pipes of same shapes and sizes, the
turbulence sets in at almost the same value of Rc. The above fact leads to the Law of
similarity which states that when there are two geometrically similar flows, both are essentially
equal to each other, as long as they embrace the same Reynold’s number. The Law of
similarity plays a very important role in technological applications.
The shape of ships, submarines, racing cars, and airplanes are designed in such a way that their
speed can be maximized.
Terminal velocity
To understand terminal velocity, consider a small metallic sphere falling freely from rest through
a large column of a viscous fluid.
The forces acting on the sphere are (i) gravitational force of the sphere acting vertically
downwards, (ii) upthrust U due to buoyancy and (iii) viscous drag acting upwards (viscous force
always acts in a direction opposite to the motion of the sphere).
Initially, the sphere is accelerated in the downward direction so that the upward force is less than
the downward force. As the velocity of the sphere increases, the velocity of the viscous force also
increases. A stage is reached when the net downward force balances the upward force and hence
the resultant force on the sphere becomes zero. It now moves down with a constant velocity.
The maximum constant velocity acquired by a body while falling freely through a viscous medium
is called the terminal velocity VT. In the Figure 7.18, a graph is drawn with velocity along y- axis
and time along x- axis. It is evident from the graph that the sphere is accelerated initially and in
course of time it becomes constant, and attains terminal velocity (VT).

7
PHY-1201 AAA

Expression for terminal velocity

Consider a sphere of radius r which falls freely through a highly viscous liquid of coefficient of
viscosity η. Let the density of the material of the sphere be ρ and the density of the fluid be σ.

8
PHY-1201 AAA

Here, it should be noted that the terminal speed of the sphere is directly proportional to the square
of its radius. If σ is greater than ρ, then the term (ρ - σ) becomes negative leading to a negative
terminal velocity. That is why air bubbles rise up through water or any fluid. This is also the reason
for the clouds in the sky to move in the upward direction.
Stoke’s law and its applications
When a body falls through a viscous medium, it drags the layer of the fluid immediately in contact
with it. This produces a relative motion between the different layers of the liquid. Stoke performed
many experiments on the motion of small spherical bodies in different fluids and concluded that
the viscous force F acting on a spherical body of radius r depends directly on -
a. radius (r) of the sphere
b. velocity (v) of the sphere and
c. coefficient of viscosity η of the liquid
Therefore F ∝ ηx r yvz
⇒ F =kηxr y vz
Where, k is a dimensionless constant.
Using dimensions, the above equation can be written as
[MLT–2] = k [ML−1T–1] x × [ L] y × [LT−1] z
On solving, we get x=1, y=1, and z=1
Therefore, F=kη rv
Experimentally, Stoke’s found that the value of k = 6π
F = 6πη rv……………. (7.23)
This relation is known as Stoke’s law.
Practical applications of Stoke’s law
Since the raindrops are smaller in size and their terminal velocities are small, remain suspended in
air in the form of clouds. As they grow up in size, their terminal velocities increase and they start
falling in the form of rain.

9
PHY-1201 AAA

This law explains the following:

a) Floatation of clouds
b) Larger raindrops hurt us more than the smaller ones
c) A man coming down with the help of a parachute acquires constant terminal velocity.
Poiseuille’s equation
Poiseuille analyzed the steady flow of liquid through a capillary tube. He derived an expression
for the volume of the liquid flowing per second through the capillary tube.
As per the theory, the following conditions must be retained while deriving the equation.
• The flow of liquid through the tube is streamlined.
• The tube is horizontal so that gravity does not influence the flow
• The layer in contact with the wall of the tube is at rest
• The pressure is uniform over any cross section of the tube
We can derive Poiseuille’s equation using dimensional analysis. Consider a liquid flowing steadily
through a horizontal capillary tube. Let v = (V/t) be the volume of the liquid flowing out per second
through a capillary tube. It depends on –
(1) coefficient of viscosity (η) of the liquid,
(2) radius of the tube (r), and
(3) the pressure gradient (P/l).
Then,

where, k is a dimensionless constant. Therefore,

10
PHY-1201 AAA

So, equating the powers of M, L, and T on both sides, we get

a + c = 0, −a + b −2c =3, and −a −2c = −1
We have three unknowns a, b, and c. We have three equations, on solving, we get
a = −1, b = 4, and c = 1
Therefore, equation (7.24) becomes,

Experimentally, the value of k is shown to be π/8, we have

The above equation is known as Poiseuille’s equation for the flow of liquid through a narrow tube
or a capillary tube. This relation holds good for the fluids whose velocities are lesser than the
critical velocity (vc).
Applications of viscosity
The importance of viscosity can be understood from the following examples -
• The oil used as a lubricant for heavy machinery parts should have a high viscous
coefficient. To select a suitable lubricant, we should know its viscosity and how it varies
with temperature [Note: As temperature increases, the viscosity of the liquid decreases].
Also, it helps to choose oils with low viscosity used in car engines (light machinery).
• The highly viscous liquid is used to damp the motion of some instruments and is used as
brake oil in hydraulic brakes.
• Blood circulation through arteries and veins depends upon the viscosity of fluids.
• Millikan conducted the oil drop experiment to determine the charge of an electron. He used
the knowledge of viscosity to determine the charge.

Bernoulli’s theorem and its applications

According to Bernoulli’s theorem, the sum of pressure energy, kinetic energy, and potential energy
per unit mass of an incompressible, non-viscous fluid in a streamlined flow remains a constant.
In 1738, the Swiss scientist Daniel Bernoulli developed a relationship for the flow of fluid through
a pipe of varying cross section. He proposed a theorem for the streamline flow of a liquid based
on the law of conservation of energy.

11
PHY-1201 AAA

Bernoulli’s theorem
According to Bernoulli’s theorem, the sum of pressure energy, kinetic energy, and potential energy
per unit mass of an incompressible, non-viscous fluid in a streamlined flow remains a constant.
Mathematically,

This is known as Bernoulli’s equation.

Proof:

Let us consider a flow of liquid through a pipe AB as shown in Figure 7.33. Let V be the volume
of the liquid when it enters A in a time t which is equal to the volume of the liquid leaving B in the
same time. Let aA, vA and PA be the area of cross section of the tube, velocity of the liquid and
pressure exerted by the liquid at A respectively.
Let the force exerted by the liquid at A is
FA = PAaA
Distance travelled by the liquid in time t is
d = vA t
Therefore, the work done is
W = FAd = PAaAvA t
But aAvAt = aAd =V, volume of the liquid entering at A.
Thus, the work done is the pressure energy (at A),

12
PHY-1201 AAA

W = FAd = PAV

Since m is the mass of the liquid entering at A in a given time, therefore, pressure energy of the
liquid at A is

Potential energy of the liquid at A,

PEA = mghA,
Due to the flow of liquid, the kinetic energy of the liquid at A,

Therefore, the total energy due to the flow of liquid at A, EA = EPA + KEA + PEA

Similarly, let aB, vB, and PB be the area of cross section of the tube, velocity of the liquid, and
pressure exerted by the liquid at B. Calculating the total energy at EB, we get

From the law of conservation of energy,

EA = EB

13
PHY-1201 AAA

Thus, the above equation can be written as

The above equation is the consequence of the conservation of energy which is true until there is
no loss of energy due to friction. But in practice, some energy is lost due to friction. This arises
due to the fact that in a fluid flow, the layers flowing with different velocities exert frictional forces
on each other. This loss of energy is generally converted into heat energy. Therefore, Bernoulli’s
relation is strictly valid for fluids with zero viscosity or non-viscous liquids. Notice that when the
liquid flows through a horizontal pipe, then h = 0

Applications of Bernoulli’s Theorem

(a) Blowing off roofs during wind storm
In olden days, the roofs of the huts or houses were designed with a slope as shown in Figure.7.34.
One important scientific reason is that as per the Bernoulli’s principle, it will be safeguarded except
roof during storm or cyclone.

14
PHY-1201 AAA

During cyclonic condition, the roof is blown off without damaging the other parts of the house. In
accordance with the Bernoulli’s principle, the high wind blowing over the roof creates a low-
pressure P1. The pressure under the roof P2 is greater. Therefore, this pressure difference (P2–P1)
creates an up thrust and the roof is blown off.
(b) Aerofoil lift
The wings of an airplane (aerofoil) are so designed that its upper surface is more curved than the
lower surface and the front edge is broader than the real edge. As the aircraft moves, the air moves
faster above the aerofoil than at the bottom as shown in Figure 7.35.
According to Bernoulli’s Principle, the pressure of air below is greater than above, which creates
an upthrust called the dynamic lift to the aircraft.

(c) Bunsen burner

In this, the gas comes out of the nozzle with high velocity, hence the pressure in the stem decreases.
So outside air reaches into the burner through an air vent and the mixture of air and gas gives a
blue flame as shown in Figure 7.36.

15
PHY-1201 AAA

(d) Venturimeter
This device is used to measure the rate of flow (or say flow speed) of the incompressible fluid
flowing through a pipe. It works on the principle of Bernoulli’s theorem. It consists of two wider
tubes A and A' (with cross sectional area A) connected by a narrow tube B (with cross sectional
area a). A manometer in the form of U-tube is also attached between the wide and narrow tubes as
shown in Figure7.37. The manometer contains a liquid of density ‘ρm’.

Let P1 be the pressure of the fluid at the wider region of the tube A. Let us assume that the fluid
of density ‘ρ’ flows from the pipe with speed ‘v1’ and into the narrow region, its speed increases
to ‘v2’. According to the Bernoulli’s equation, this increase in speed is accompanied by a decrease
in the fluid pressure P2 at the narrow region of the tube B. Therefore, the pressure difference
between the tubes A and B is noted by measuring the height difference (ΔP = P1−P2) between the
surfaces of the manometer liquid.
From the equation of continuity, we can say that Av1 = a v2 which means that

Using Bernoulli’s equation,

From the above equation, the pressure difference

16
PHY-1201 AAA

Thus, the speed of flow of fluid at the wide end of the tube A

The volume of the liquid flowing out per second is

(e) Other applications

This Bernoulli’s concept is mainly used in the design of carburetor of automobiles, filter pumps,
atomizers, and sprayers.
For example, the carburetor has a very fine channel called nozzle through which the air is allowed
to flow in larger speed. In this case, the pressure is lowered at the narrow neck and in turn, the
required fuel or petrol is sucked into the chamber so as to provide the correct mixture of air and
fuel necessary for ignition process.

17
PHY-1201 AAA

Capillarity
The word ‘capilla’ means hair in Latin. If the tubes were hair thin, then the rise would be very
large. It means that the tube having a very small diameter is called a ‘capillary tube’. When a glass
capillary tube open at both ends is dipped vertically in water, the water in the tube will rise above
the level of water in the vessel. In case of mercury, the liquid is depressed in the tube below the
level of mercury in the vessel (shown in Figure 7.29). In a liquid whose angle of contact with solid
is less than 90°, suffers capillary rise. On the other hand, in a liquid whose angle of contact is
greater than 90°, suffers capillary fall (Table 7.4). The rise or fall of a liquid in a narrow tube is
called capillarity or capillary action. Depending on the diameter of the capillary tube, liquid rises
or falls to different heights.

18
PHY-1201 AAA

Practical applications of capillarity

• Due to capillary action, oil rises in the cotton within an earthen lamp. Likewise, sap rises
from the roots of a plant to its leaves and branches.
• Absorption of ink by a blotting paper
• Capillary action is also essential for the tear fluid from the eye to drain constantly.
• Cotton dresses are preferred in summer because cotton dresses have fine pores which act
as capillaries for sweat.

19