ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of an ideal fluid that has no viscosity or surface tension and is incompressible. Although it is not representative of a real fluid, it allows the development of some fundamental equations that are used in the study of real fluids. The application of the equations of conservation of matter, energy and momentum is developed, as they apply to a flowing fluid. This leads to applying these equations to calculate related variations in pressure, velocity and elevation head in a simple ducted flow and the estimation of reaction forces on pipelines. The determination of velocity and discharge using a pitot tube, a venturi metre and orifice plate metre is described and equations developed. Finally, the topic of potential flows is introduced, including plotting streamlines and flow nets for simple potential flows. Worked examples and problems for solution are also given in the text.
