As an engineering student, my mind has often wandered to phenomena that occur without a seemingly reasonable explanation. Throughout Fluid Mechanics, some of these questions have been answered. I have been intrigued, for example, by the way that soil absorbs groundwater, the way the heart pumps blood around the body, and the way a dam holds back a whole-lake's worth of water.
There is a relatively simple concept that can explain the first two of my queries: pressure.
To calculate pressure, density and height change is needed: P = density*g*h. This pressure and the height values can then be used in the Bernoulli's equation to find velocity. The provided Bernoulli's equation is in units of distance, but there is also a way of solving it for units of pressure. It can easily be utilized to describe the trickle of water through soil, finding how deep the water travels or the velocity at which it moves.
Blood flowing through the body is an interesting occurrence, as the the total cross-sectional area that blood must flow to is about 200 times the area from which it flows. That is, the total area of the capillaries is 200 times the cross-sectional area of the aorta, which is the artery through which the blood flows directly from the heart. The hemoglobin in our red blood cells must carry the oxygen all the way to our extremities, and the heart (pump) work needed is mathematically described by the adapted energy equation.
My final interest was how one concrete-looking wall could hold back so much water. The engineering behind the structure of a dam is carefully planned using the acquired knowledge of fluid statics. To discover the force the water is causing to the infrastructure and the force the dam must withstand, the resultant force of the water and atmospheric pressure is calculated.
After learning the explanations for some applications of fluid mechanics, I am able to understand the technical aspect of many elements of the world around me. This is crucial considering the likelihood I work with other engineers in the future to design structures for storm drains (such as the one my friends are soaking their feet in the water stream of in the photo), dams, and irrigation systems. Before this course, I did not realize that the term "fluid" includes more than just liquids; it encapsulates gases as well. Learning this opened my eyes to the fact that this is one of the most relevant and applicable courses I will take at Auburn.
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