Activity 11.

Flow rate of fluids

Date:_______________________________
members:____________________________

Name of group

Fluids are characterized by their ability to flow by virtue of pressure gradient

between two points along their path. The pressure at any point determines how
fast the fluid flows; hence the flow rate of a fluid is determined how wide the path
is (Giancoli, 2005). The flow rate is expressed as
flow rate ( F . R . )=vA
where

is the speed of fluid, and

is the cross sectional area of the tube.

Your task is to determine the flow of different samples of fluid and compare
the same from each other.

Materials: burettes (2 pieces of different diameters), stop watch, beaker (2 x 50

mL), iron stand with clamp, two samples of fluids
Procedure:
1. Set up the iron stand vertically and clamp the burette with the graduation
visible to you. As shown in Figure 11
2. Cover the bottom part of the burette and fill it with the sample fluid until it
hit the 100 mL or whatever is available for the burette.
3. Record the volume of the of the sample fluid.
4. Release the cover at the lower end. At the same time, starts the timer.
5. Record the time until the burette is empty with the fluid.
6. Calculate the flow rate for this sample.
7. Calculate the cross sectional area for this burette.
8. Calculate the speed of the fluid. Record your data.
9. Cleanse the burette thoroughly.
10.
Repeat the steps for the second sample. Record in Table 12.1
11.
Repeat the entire procedure for the second burette.
12.
Record your data in Table 12.1.

Figure 12 Experimental Set up

Flow rate of fluids

Data:
Table 12.1 Flow of different samples
Questions:

Area of the tube = ____________ cm2

Sample
Volum
Time
F.R.
e (mL)
(s)
(mL/s)

Speed
(cm/s)

Area of the tube: _____________ cm2

Sample
Volum
Time
F.R.
e (mL)
(s)
(mL/s)

Speed
(cm/s)

1. What values of the flow

rate did you get in for the
two samples in the two
tables above? Why do you
think that consistently the
samples have different flow
rate?

2. Are the speeds of the fluid using two different sized tubes the same for each
of the fluids? If not, why?

3. A sample fluid flows from a container whose diameter is 25 cm. If the speed
of this fluid is 3.5 m/s, what is the flow rate of this fluid?

4. A 60 g oil leaks from a container through a hole 5 cm in diameter at a rate of

10 mL/s. How fast is the fluid leaking out? How long will it take for a 50 L oil
will totally leaked out from the hole? (1L = 1000 mL)

Conclusion: