Lab: Bernoulli's Principle

Goals: to observe the effects of Bernoulli's Principle

Materials:

• ping-pong ball or hollow plastic sphere from kit.
• blow dryer
• protractor

Procedure

1. Weigh the ping-pong ball.
2. Turn on the blow dryer and aim it upwards.
3. Try to "suspend" the pingpong in the air stream near the mouth of the dryer. The rush of air around the ball in all directions force the ball to remain in the stream. As you repeat the experiment, try to keep the ball at the same distance from the dryer opening.
4. Repeat each measurement you make at different angles or with different air speeds 3-5 times.
5. Change the angle of the blow dryer and determine the minimum angle of the air stream required to keep the ball in the air.
6. If the blow dryer has different speed settings, repeat the experiment at each speed setting.
7. If you are using a hollow ball, vary the contents and mass of the ball.

Data Handling

1. Use Bernoulli's principle to calculate the speed of the air at each blower setting and angle using the average of your measurements for each.. Assume the flow must directly counter the force of gravity on your sample.
2. Draw at least one force diagram showing the forces acting on the ball.
3. Perform an appropriate analysis of your data to estimate error and produce the velocity range for the hair dryer air velocity.

Report

Follow the standard report format to describe your materials, procedures, data collection, data reduction, and conclusions. You should use sufficient detail that someone reading your report would be able to repeat your experiment and confirm your results.

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