Chapter 8

The continuity equation

8.1

The equation of continuity

It is evident that in a certain region of space the matter entering it must

be equal to the matter leaving it. Let us consider an infinitesimal volume of
rectangular parallelepiped form with sides x, y and z (Fig 8.1).
The fluid mass that enters the elementary volume in the unit time through
the surface of equation x x/2 = 0 is


Mxx/2 = x

x
x
x
, y, z, t u x , y, z, t yz = (u) x , y, z, t yz,
2
2
2
 

where the last step serves only to introduce a more concise notation. Similarly,
the fluid mass that leaves the volume in the same time through the surface of
equation x + x/2 = 0 is


Mx+x/2 = (u) x +

x
, y, z, t yz.
2


Hence, the total mass entering the volume in the unit time in the x-direction is
equal to
Mx = Mxx/2 Mx+x/2
43

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Franco Mattioli (University of Bologna)

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(u)(x x/2, y, z)

(x, y, z)

(u)(x + x/2, y, z)

Fig. 8.1: The flux of matter entering the elementary parallepiped can be decomposed into the sum of three independent contributions along the coordinate
directions.

x
x
= (u) x , y, z, t (u) x+ , y, z, t
2
2




"

(u)
yz =
x yz,
x

where in the last step we have divided and multiplied by x. Similar contributions
arise in the y and z-directions, so that the mass of the matter entering from all
the directions becomes
"

(u) (v) (w)

MT = Mx + My + Mz =
+
+
xyz.
x
y
z
On the other hand, the same mass can be evaluated on the basis of the variation
of the density of the parcel
MT =

xyz.
t

Equating the two expressions of MT and dividing by the elementary volume

xyz, we obtain

(u) (v) (w)

+
+
+
= 0,
t
x
y
z
which in vector form can also be written as

+ (u) = 0.
t

(8.1)

Principles of Fluid Dynamics (www.fluiddynamics.it)

45

This equation is known as the continuity equation, or also law of the mass conservation.
The continuity equation can be written in another equivalent form by expanding the divergence term. We obtain

+ u + u = 0,
t
that is,

d
+ u = 0.
dt

(8.2)

In an incompressible fluid, for which d/dt = 0, this relationship is further simplified, thus reducing to
u = 0.
(8.3)
Problem 8.1 Use the continuity equation to derive the meaning of the divergence term
already seen in problem [D.4].
Solution. Consider a parcel of mass m = V . Since the mass of the parcel does not
vary in time, one has
!
d
d
d
d
m = ( V ) =
V + V = 0,
dt
dt
dt
dt
from which, dividing by V , one obtains
1 d
d
+
V = 0.
dt
V dt
A comparison with the continuity equation shows that the divergence of the velocity field
in a given point at a given instant is proportional to the fractional variation of volume
of the parcels passing through the point in that instant, as in (D.2).

8.2

Particularly simple flows

In a fluid with a density that is constant in time and uniform over each
horizontal plane and moves with a horizontal velocity equally uniform over each
horizontal plane, all the terms of the continuity equation separately vanish. In
fact, in this case, the local derivative of the density is zero because of stationarity,

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Franco Mattioli (University of Bologna)

the first two components of the momentum do not depend on the horizontal
coordinates, while the third one is zero because the vertical velocity is zero. Such
flows, defined only by the vertical density stratification and by the horizontal
components of the velocity as a function of the time and the vertical coordinate,
are particularly simple to study. They can be dealt with by not considering
the continuity equation, which is automatically satisfied because all of its terms
vanish. Such flows are briefly called plane-parallel flows.
Another kind of flow satisfying a similar property is a stationary radially symmetric
flow. In this case, both the density and the horizontal velocity depend only on the
vertical coordinate z and on the distance r = (x2 + y2 )1/2 from the vertical coordinate
axis. We have shown in problem [E.2] that such a flow is not divergent. Furthermore,
since the circular motion of the parcels is not able to modify the structure of the density
field, the total derivative of density also vanishes.

8.3

Historical notes and essential bibliography

The continuity equation for the particularly simple case of the flow in a channel was qualitatively understood by many authors of the XVI and XVII century,
but a differential form of the equation appeared much later in a work by Jean
Le Rond dAlembert [6] in 1747 and in the basic work by Leonhard Euler [8] in
1755.