Guilty of Turbulence!

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of my project was to determine whether or not pipes with different geometrical shapes, yet with identical cross-section areas will conduct water at the same rate. I hypothesized that my different geometrical shapes will cause different turbulence patterns in my pipes, therefore affecting the flow rate of the water. Methods/Materials I equipped the bottoms of 5 identical water containers with 5 drainage pipes of different geometrical shapes, with a constant cross-section area. My setup allowed me to pour the same volume of water under the same conditions into each of my 5 containers, and measure the time it took for the different pipes to drain the water. Results My circular pipe conducted the water the fastest. The second fastest was my star-shaped pipe, followed by my square and my rectangular pipes. The slowest drainage occurred through my triangular pipe. Conclusions/Discussion I observed that the polygon with most sides conducted the water the fastest, my circle being considered a polygon with an infinite number of sides. And the flow rate decreased with the decreasing number of sides of my shapes.

Competition history

• CSEF 2007 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0102

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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