ABSTRACT
Two simple and inexpensive venturi experiments were developed for use in either the laboratory or classroom. In the first experiment, a shop-fabricated venturi was employed to determine the experimental minor loss coefficient, K, in an unsteady state system. The throat velocity determined by the Bernoulli balance was about 16% higher than the measured experimental velocity. The minor loss coefficient was 0.86, which indicates that only about 15% of the energy contained in the throat stream was recovered. This value is consistent with results reported in the literature. In the second experiment, a venturi was fashioned from small, inexpensive funnels and once again used to determine the experimental minor loss coefficient, this time in a steady state system. The average calculated minor loss coefficient was 0.28 and deviated about 3.6% among the three experimental runs. The experimental throat pressures ranged from 88.7 to 96.5 kPa (26.2–28.5 in Hg absolute), and the theoretical and experimental pressures agreed within 5%.
