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Cebu Institute of Technology – University, N. Bacalso Ave. Cebu City, 6000 Philippines
The Osbourne Reynolds Apparatus was used to investigate the characteristic of the flow of
the liquid in the pipe which is also used to determine the Reynolds number for each state of
flow. The design of the apparatus allowed studying the characteristic of the flow of the fluid
in the pipe, the behaviour of the flow, and also to calculate the range for the laminar and
turbulent flow where the calculation is used to prove the Reynolds number is dimensionless
by using the Reynolds number formula.
The types of flow observed were: a) laminar (NRe < 2100), b) transient (2100 < NRe < 4000),
and c) turbulent (NRe > 4000). The Reynolds Number was calculated using the appropriate
units of each of the term, and dimensional analysis showed that Reynolds number is
dimensionless.
1. Introduction
Figure 1. Types of Flow: a) Laminar (NRe < 2100), b) Transient (2100 < NRe <4000,
and c) Turbulent (NRe > 4000)
3. Results
Table 1. Raw Data and Calculations
Vwater Time Volumetric Flow Velocity
Type of
Trial Collected (t) rate (Q) (v) NRe
(mL) (s) (m3/s) (m/s) Flow
1 87.4 60 1.46E-06 0.02898 282.14 Laminar
2 91.6 60 1.53E-06 0.030372 295.69 Laminar
3 89.5 60 1.49E-06 0.029676 288.916 Laminar
4 577 10 5.77E-05 1.1479 11175.586 Turbulent
5 530 10 5.30E-05 1.0544 10265.31 Turbulent
6 560 10 5.60E-05 1.11408 10846.37 Turbulent
Trial 1: (1)
1𝐿 1 𝑚3
87.4 𝑚𝐿 (1000 𝑚𝐿) (1000 𝐿) 𝑚3
−6
𝑄= = 1.46𝑥10
60 𝑠 𝑠
𝑄
Velocity 𝑣=𝐴
Trial 1: (2)
𝑚3
1.46𝑥10−3 𝑠 𝑚
𝑣= −5 2
= 0.02898
5.03𝑥10 𝑚 𝑠
𝐷𝑣𝜌
Reynolds number, NRe 𝑁𝑅𝑒 = 𝜇
Trial 1:
𝑚 𝑘𝑔
(0.008 𝑚)(0.02898 𝑠 )(995.96 3 )
𝑁𝑅𝑒 = 𝑚 = 282.14
𝑘𝑔
0.8184𝑥10−3 𝑚 ∙ 𝑠
4. Discussion
The values of NRe depends on the volumetric flow rate. It can be observed from Table 1
that the value of NRe is large when the flow rate is large. This implies that NRe increases when
the flow rate increases. In this experiment, the diameter of the pipe, density of the fluid, and
viscosity of the fluid is constant. From the Reynolds number equation, NRe is directly
proportional to velocity, which is calculated by dividing the flow rate by the cross-sectional
area of the pipe.
5. Conclusions
In fluid mechanics, the type of flow can be determined by calculating the Reynolds
number. The Reynolds number is a function of the pipe diameter, the fluid velocity, the fluid
density, and the fluid viscosity. Increasing the pipe diameter or the fluid velocity or fluid
density will increase NRe, which means NRe is directly proportional to D, v, and ρ. If the fluid
is very viscous, the NRe value will be small; NRe is inversely proportional to μ.