3.

State
Bernoulli’s principle states that The pressure of a moving liquid
Bernoulli’s
decreases as the speed of the fluid increases and vice versa.
Principle

Explain that resultant force exists due to a difference in fluid pressure

A. Hold a piece of paper. Blow air above B. Hold two pieces of paper close to each other
the paper. and blow steadily into the space between
the paper.

 The paper will move ___________.

 Which part of the paper has a:
Lower pressure?______________
Higher pressure?______________
 Which part of the paper does the air
move at a high speed?
__________________
Mark the direction of the net force acted on the
paper.
 The papers will move __________________
 Determine the regions which has:
Lower pressure: _______________
Higher pressure: _______________
 Which part of the paper does the air
move at a high speed?
__________________
Mark the direction of the net force acted on the
paper.

1. The movements of paper in both activities are caused by ______________ forces.

2. The force that caused the movement of paper is produced by the difference in __________ on
both sides of the paper.
3. Since the blown air is moving faster than the still air, the activity shows that pressure of fast
flowing air __________.
4. The relationship between the speed of air and pressure:
 When the speed of air increases, the pressure of the air _____________

Carry out Hands-on Activity 3.8 on page 66 of the practical book.

147
Exercise
Mark the water level in the vertical tubes P,Q and R in the following figures.

An air flows steadily from left to right of the horizontal tube. What happens to the difference in
mercury levels in the U-tubes attached to it?

At which point is the speed of the flow high? ____________

At which point is the pressure of the flow low? _____________

Complete the following table.

Point Air flow speed Air flow pressure
X low high

Y high low

Z moderate moderate

Explain the observation using Bernoulli’s principle.

__In steady flow of fluid presssure of fluid decreases__when the velocity increases.__________
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More activity
1. Try to float the ping pong ball over the straw.

Why does the ping pong ball floats over the top of the
straw?
When the air is blown at high speed the air comes out of
the straw, a low pressure area is created at the mouth of
the straw. The surrounding air which is at high pressure
tries to moves to the lower pressure area causing the ball
to float and keep turning.

2. Suspend two balloons by two threads at a distance of 10

cm apart. Blow through the space between the balloons
with the help of a straw.
What happens to the two balloons?
2 balloons attracted towards to each other

Why?
Position X has lower Pressure but high speed of
fluid.Position Y and Z has high pressure but lower speed
of fluid. The difference in pressure will produce resultant
force and make the balloons attracted.

3. A filter funnel is connected to a water tap by using a

rubber tube.
The tap is turned on to allow water to flow through the
filter funnel. A ping pong ball is placed inside the filter
funnel amidst the stream of water flow.
What happens to the ping pong ball?

Explain.

Applications of Bernoulli’s Principle

1. An aerofoil An aerofoil is a curved wing used to produce a lift

(upwards force).
 Draw the stream of airflow past
on the aerofoil.
 Label the region with faster
airflow and slower airflow.
 Label the region with high
pressure and lower pressure
 Indicate and label the direction
of the uplift force acts on the
aerofoil
Explain how the uplift force is produced to help the plane take-off.

The airflow lines are _________ above the aerofoil because the air speed past the aerofoil is
___________.The airflow above the aerofoil is _________ than the airflow below it, so there is
_______ air pressure above the aerofoil.
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The pressure __________ between the air below and above the aerofoil produces an upward
resultant force known as a _______
2. An Insecticide Spray

 When the piston is pushed

into the cylinder, air gusts
out at _______ speed
through the narrow
opening.
 This produces a ______
pressure region around the
opening.
 The air above the
insecticide is at
atmospheric pressure
which is ________, so it _________ the insecticide to rise through the metal tube.
 The mixture of insecticide and air is then ejected as a spray of small _________ of
insecticide.

3. A Bunsen Burner

 When a Bunsen burner is

connected to the gas supply,
gas gusts out through the jet
with ________ speed.
 This creates a region where a
_______ pressure exists round
the jet.
 The outside air at __________
pressure which is _______ is
sucked into the low pressure
region.
 The mixture of ______ and air
which enters the barrel is then
burnt to produce a flame.

4. A Carburetor

 A carburetor is used to
produce a mixture of
__________ and air
which can be burnt
easily in the engine of a
car.
 Air flowing at a
________ speed through
the narrow section
causes the air pressure
there to become
_________.
 The __________ pressure pushes the petrol from the tank to flow out through the jet as
spray of petrol vapour after mixing with air.

150
1. Sports : ping pong, baseball, tennis, football
The figure shows a motion a ball when it is kicked by a football player from one corner of a
field. The ball is found to be spinning and swerving before entering the goal mouth. The ball
moves in a curve because of Bernoulli’s principle.

 The stream of air moves faster on one side of the spinning ball and the pressure on that
side is _________. A __________ force pushes the ball to one side as it moves forward.

Tutorial 3.6 Which of the following diagrams shows

the condition of the ping-pong balls
1. The diagram shows a ping-pong ball that when air is blown between them? (2007)
does not fall when the water flows.

Which principle explains the diagram?
(2004)
A. Pascal’s principle
B. Bernoulli’s principle
C. Archimedes principle
3. The figure shows the flow a liquid
through a Bernoulli tube. The smallest
pressure of the liquid is at point……

2. Diagram below shows two similar ping-

pong balls suspended on strings of the 4. The figure shows an arrangement of
same length. apparatus which is used to show the
Bernoulli’s Principle.

151
 When the air is blown, the level of water
in tube
A X will the highest
B Y will the highest
C Z will the highest
D X,Y and Z will the same
5. The figure shows water rising up the
tubes X,Y and Z if the air is blown.
Which of the following is true regarding
the water level in tube X,Y and Z?
A Water level in X < Water level in Y <
Water level in Z
B Water level in X < Water level in Z <
Water level in Y
C Water level in Z < Water level in Y <
Water level in X
D Water level in Y < Water level in Z <
Water level in X
6. The figure shows the wing of an
aeroplane which is moving with a
uniform acceleration in the direction
shown by the arrow.
Which of the following is true?
A The uplift force is higher than the
weight of object
B The resultant force in direction of
the motion of the object is zero
C The pressure in region P is higher
than in region Q
D The velocity of air in region P is
higher than in region Q.
7. The figure shows a water spray that is
produced when the air flows through the
jet.
Which of the following is true?
A According to Pascal’s Principle ,the
that above system produces a water
spray.
B The air pressure at Q is higher than
that at P
C The velocity of air at Q is higher
than that at P
SPM 2005
8. Figure(a) shows a piece of paper
hanging from a retort stand. When air
flows from the nozzle of an air pump, the
paper changes its position as shown in
Figure(b).
Figure(a) Figure(b)
(b) Compare the position of paper in
Figure(a) and Figure(b)
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
(c) F is a force that causes the paper to
change its position.
In box, X, on Figure(b) , indicate and
label the direction of F that acts on the
paper.
(c) Explain how F is produced?
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
(d) (i) Compared to the position
of the paper in Figure(b), how does
the position of the paper change
when the air flows faster?
________________________________
_______________________________
152
 (ii) Give reason to your answer in d(i).
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
(e) Name the principle that causes the the
observations in Figure(b)
__________________________________
(f) Name one piece of apparatus in a
school laboratory which uses the
principle in(e).
_________________________________
Question No. 5: Spm 2006
9. Diagram 20.1 shows the situations of a
sheet of paper before and when air is
blown. Diagram 20.2 shows the situation
of the canopy before the lorry moves and
when the lorry moves at high speed.
(a) What is meant by speed?
________________________________
[1]
(b) Based on Diagram 20.1 and Diagram
20.2:
(i) State two similarities for the
situations in Diagram 20.1 and
Diagram 20.2.
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
[2]
(ii) Compare the air pressure
above and below the paper when
air is blown.
________________________________
[1]
(iii) Relate the speed of the air to
the pressure of the air.
[1]
_______________________________
(c) Name the principle involved in 5(b)
(iii). [1]
________________________________
(d) Diagram 20.3 shows an instrument
used to measure the speed of air.
Diagram 20.2
In Diagram 20.3, the levels of
coloured water in the U-tube are the
same before air flows.
(i) Compare the speeds of air at
P and at Q
153
 _________________________ ski jumper. Explain the
[1] similarities. [2]

(ii) Mark the water levels in the U-

tube in Diagram 5.3 while air
flows. [1]
SPM 2007 (Essay Section B)
10. (a) Diagram 9.1 shows a cross section of (c) Diagram 9.6 shows a sailboat.
a wing of a moving aeroplane. The wing
of the aeroplane experiences a lift force.

You are required to give some

suggestions to design a sailboat
(i) Name the shape of the cross-
which can travel faster. Using the
section in Diagram 9.1.
knowledge on motion, forces and the
(ii) Explain why the lift force acts on
properties of materials, explain the
the wing of the aeroplane.
suggestions based on the following
aspects:
(b) Two ski jumpers ski down from a
(i) the surface of the board
very high platform with the same take
(ii) the shape of the board
off velocity. Diagram 9.2 and
(iii) material used for the board
Diagram 9.3 show the posture of the
(iv) material used for the sail
two ski jumpers during take off from
(v) the size of the tail
the platform. Diagram 9.4 and
[10]
Diagram 9.5 show the posture of the
two ski jumpers in the air. They land
on the ground at the same instant.

(i) Based on Diagram 9.2 and

Diagram 9.3, compare the posture
of the two ski jumpers. [1]

(ii) Based on Diagram 9.4 and

Diagram 9.5, compare the landing
distance of the two ski jumpers.
[1]
(iii) Based on Diagram 9.4 and
Diagram 9.5, relate the lift force to
the landing distance.
[2]
(iv) Name one spot which uses the
same principle of lift force as the

154