Article
Article
- Physics
- Fluid mechanics
- Pitot tube
Pitot tube
Article By:
White, Frank M. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.520300
- Shielded probes
- Pitot-static probes
- Compressibility effects
- Related Primary Literature
- Additional Reading
A device to measure the stagnation pressure due to isentropic deceleration of a flowing fluid. In its original form it was a glass tube bent at 90° and inserted in a stream flow, with its opening pointed upstream (illustration a). Water rises in the tube a distance, h, above the surface, and if friction losses are negligible, the velocity of the stream, V, is approximately , where g is the acceleration of gravity. However, there is a significant measurement error if the probe is misaligned at an angle α with respect to the stream (illus. a). For an open tube, the error is about 5% at α ≈ 10°.
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