Ending Up in Good Places

Physics A and B completed their work for fluid mechanics with an overview of Bernoulli's principle and Bernoulli's equation. Bernoulli's principle states that pressure and velocity in a fluid are inversely related and it is the pressure differences that create a net force that accelerates fluids. We discussed examples such as smoke rising up a chimney and the attacking shower curtain and you'll get to look at some more examples next week. Bernoulli's equation documents conservation of energy in fluid systems and is a handy relationship for finding information about pressure, speed or height of a fluid if the conditions in another part of the system are known. The problems for homework do take some thought, but be mindful of the hints you were provided and here's one more: If the velocities of two sections are incredibly different, so that one area is moving incredibly slowly compared to the other area, it is not inappropriate to set the velocity of the slower section to zero...

Intro Physics started working on some problems for conservation of energy, stemming from yesterday's investigation. Keep in mind that energy can be all of one type or a blend, but the total energy with which you begin is the total energy with which you end. We'll go over those problems tomorrow and discuss the concept of efficiency and conservation of mechanical energy (which some of your problems address, also).

Honors Physics discussed the 2^nd law of thermodynamics and how it relates to heat engines and entropy. We looked at calculating heat engine efficiency and examples of entropy increase and decrease in systems and selected part of systems. On Monday, we'll review the chapter and Tuesday is our exam for thermodynamics.