Image From Cengel and Cimbala, 2014

There are several fluid mechanics applications I have wondered about
for some time. Now, because of this class, I am better equipped to

understand the fluid mechanics principles acting in the world around me.
First, I have always wondered how boats are able to float in water. Why do
they float and what causes them to sink during
accidents? I learned that boats are able to float in
water due to the hydrostatic force applied upward by
the water on the bottom of the boat. By Newtons
second law, as long as the force due to gravity
(weight) on the boat does not exceed the hydrostatic
force supporting the boat, the boat will float. I also
learned that ships are stable in the water if the
weight is distributed to the bottom of the ship or at
the center. If the boat is top heavy it will be
Image from Cengel and
Cimbala, 2014
unstable and likely sink (see image at left). This is
because the center of gravity is too high and creates a moment about a
point high up on the ship, causing it to tip. So, in order for the boat to be still,
M=0 and Fy=0. These two equations are important throughout fluid
statics. When the weight in the ship is distributed primarily to the bottom of
the ship, that weight is able to act as a restoring moment to restore the ship
to a neutral position when something (for example, a wave) knocks it out of
its neutral resting position. These calculations are performed just as they
would be in a statics problem involving solid objects only.
If a body is suspended or floating in a fluid, then the density of that

object is less than or equal to, respectively, the density of the fluid. Thus, to
calculate the buoyancy force exerted on an object floating or suspended in a
fluid, one can use the following equations (Cengel and Cimbala, 2014):
Similarly,
I have wondered how water bugs are able to walk on top of water. When I
have free time, I like to spend time outdoors and explore wooded areas. The
way the water bugs are able to walk on top of the water so quickly and
skillfully fascinated me. In this class I learned about surface tension and the
capillary effect in water. These unique effects are what allow the water
strider to move across the surface of creeks and ponds. It distributes its
small weight over a large surface area, so that the pressure exerted by its
weight does not overcome the surface tension of the water. These same
surface tension effects are exploited to measure pressure using devices such
as barometers. When measuring the atmospheric pressure, the height which
the liquid travels up the barometer tube is measured and this is used to
calculate the atmospheric pressure using the following equation:
Patm=gh
Where is the density of the fluid, g is the acceleration due to gravity,
and h is the height up the tube the fluid travelled.
A third application of fluid mechanics I had wondered about was

quicksand. Is it a liquid or a solid? Why do people get trapped in it? For a
time I thought quicksand did not actually exist and was just an old trope
featured on Gilligans Island or Indiana Jones. However, because of this
Hydraulic Transport in Biological Systems class, I have not only learned that
it exists but also how it works. I learned about rheology, the study of how
flowing fluids deform. It turns out that quicksand is an example of a dilatant
fluid. Dilatant fluids, also known as shear thickening fluids, become more
viscous the more they are sheared. This means that the more the fluid is
stirred or mixed, the thicker it becomes. This is what causes the trapping
effects of quicksand. Unlike water (a Newtonian fluid, meaning the shear
stress is linearly proportional to the strain rate of the fluid), thrashing about
in the quicksand causes the fluid to thicken and causes one to be trapped in
the fluid. The equation
describes the behavior of fluids when sheared where shear stress

(Cengel and Cimbala, 2014). For dilatant fluids such as quicksand, n>1,
meaning that as the shear rate increases, the viscosity of the fluid increases.
Therefore, the more an individual trapped in quicksand thrashes about in
panic, the more securely lodged in the quicksand they become. Because of
this class, I will know how to proceed if I ever fall in quicksand: be still and
call for help, above all, I will not struggle.
Viscous forces in a fluid are a measure of that fluids resistance to flow.
The viscous forces within a liquid affect calculations made about fluid
systems. The viscous forces affect the validity of the Bernoulli equation
(Cengel and Cimbala,
2014):
This equation describes two points along the same streamline. The
Bernoulli equation is only valid in areas of fluid flow in which the net viscous
forces are negligibly small when compared to inertial, gravitational, or
pressure forces (Cengel and Cimbala, 2014). Viscous forces are not
negligible in areas which are boundary layers or wakes, in which areas the
viscous forces are high.
All images are from Cengel and Cimbala.
References
Cengel, Y. A., & Cimbala, J. M. (2014). Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and
Applications. (3rd ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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There are several fluid mechanics applications I have wondered about

for some time. Now, because of this class, I am better equipped to

unstable and likely sink (see image at left). This is

If a body is suspended or floating in a fluid, then the density of that

A third application of fluid mechanics I had wondered about was

describes the behavior of fluids when sheared where shear stress

All images are from Cengel and Cimbala.

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