Chapter 2

The air pressure and density at a point on the wing of a Boeing 747 are 1.10 x 105 N/ m 2 and 1.20 kg/m 3,
respectively. What is the temperature at that point?

Answer: 319 K

The high-pressure air storage tank for a supersonic wind tunnel has a volume of 1000 ft 3. If air is stored
at a pressure of 30 atm and a temperature of 530°R, what is the mass of gas stored in the tank in slugs?
In pound mass?

Answer: 69.8 slugs = 2248 lb m

Air flowing at high speed in a wind tunnel has pressure and temperature equal to 0.3 atm and -1.00°C,
respectively. (a) What is the air density? (b) What is the specific volume?

Answer: (a) 0.61 kg/m 3 (b) 1.64 m 3/kg

2.1 Consider the low-speed flight of the Space Shuttle as it is nearing a landing. If the air pressure and
temperature at the: nose of the shuttle are 1.2 atm and 300 K, respectively, what are the density and
specific volume?

2.2 Consider 1 kg of helium at 500 K. If the total internal energy of helium is due to the mean kinetic
energy of each atom summed over all the atoms, calculate the internal energy of this gas. Note: The
molecular weight of helium is 4. Recall from chemistry that the molecular weight is the mass per mole of
gas; that is, 1 mol of helium contains 4 kg of mass. Also, 1 mol of any gas contains 6.02 x 1026 molecules
or atoms (Avogadro's number).

2.3 Calculate the weight of air (in pounds) contained within a room 20 ft long, 15 ft wide, and 8 ft high.
Assume standard atmospheric pressure and temperature of 2116lb/ft2 and 59°F, respectively.

2.4 Comparing with the case of Prob. 2.3, calculate the percentage change in the total weight of air in
the room when the air temperature is reduced to -1.0°F (a very cold winter day), assuming the pressure
remains the same at 2116 lb/ ft 2.

2.5 If 1500 lb m of air is pumped into a previously empty 900 ft 3 storage tank and the air temperature in
the tank is uniformly 70°F, what is the air pressure in the tank in atmospheres?

2.6 In Prob. 2.5, assume the rate at which air is being pumped into the tank is 0.5 lb m/s. Consider the
instant in time at which there is 1000 lb m of air in the tank. Assume the air temperature is uniformly
50°F at this instant and is increasing at the rate of 1°F/min. Calculate the rate of change of pressure at
this instant.

2.7 Assume that, at a point on the wing of the Concorde supersonic transport, the air temperature is
-10°C and the pressure is 1.7 x 104 N/m 2. Calculate the density at this point.

2.8 At a point in the test section of a supersonic wind tunnel, the air pressure and temperature are 0.5 x
105N/m2 and 240 K, respectively. Calculate the specific volume.
2.9 Consider a flat surface in an aerodynamic flow (say a flat sidewall of a wind tunnel). The dimensions
of this surface are 3 ft in the flow direction (the x direction) and 1 ft perpendicular to the flow direction
(they direction). Assume that the pressure distribution (in pounds per square foot) is given by p = 2116-
10x and is independent of y. Assume also that the shear-stress distribution (in pounds per square foot) is
given by τ ω = 90/( x +9)1/ 2 and is independent of y. In the above expressions, x is in feet, and x = 0 at the
front of the surface. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the net aerodynamic force on the surface.

2.10 A pitcher throws a baseball at 85 miles per hour. The flow field over the baseball moving through
the stationary air at 85 miles per hour is the same as that over a stationary baseball in an airstream that
approaches the baseball at 85 miles per hour. (This is the principle of wind tunnel testing, as will be
discussed in Chap. 4.) This picture of a stationary body with the flow moving over it, is what we adopt
here. Neglecting friction, the theoretical expression for the flow velocity over the surface of a sphere
3
(hence the baseball) is V = V ∞ sinθ . Here, V ∞ is the airstream velocity (the freestream velocity far
2
ahead of the sphere). An arbitrary point on the surface of the sphere is located by the intersection of the
radius of the sphere with the surface, and θ is the angular position of the radius measured from a line
through the center in the direction of the freestream (i.e., the most forward and rearward points on the
spherical surface correspond to θ = 0° and 180°, respectively. The velocity V is the flow velocity at that
arbitrary point on the smface. Calculate the values of the minimum and maximum velocity at the
surface, and the location of the points at which these occur.

2.11 Consider an ordinary. helium-filled party balloon with a volume of 2.2 ft 3. The lifting force on the
balloon due to the outside air is the net resultant of the pressure distribution exerted on the exterior
surface of the balloon. Using this fact, Archimedes principle can be derived, namely that the upward
force on the balloon is equal to the weight of the air displaced by the balloon. Assuming the balloon is at
sea level, where the air density is 0.002377 slug/ ft 3., calculate the maximum weight that can be lifted by
the balloon. Note: The molecular weight of air is 28.8 and that of helium is 4.

2.12 In the four-stroke, reciprocating, internal combustion engine that powers most automobiles as well
as most small general aviation aircraft, combustion of the fuel-air mixture takes place in the volume
between the top of the piston and the top of the cylinder. (Reciprocating engines are discussed in Chap.
9.) The gas mixture is ignited when the piston is essentially at the end of the compression stroke (called
top dead center), when the gas is compressed to a relatively high pressure and is squeezed into the
smallest volume that exists between the top of the piston and the top of the cylinder. Combustion takes
place rapidly, before the piston has much time to start down on the power stroke. Hence, the volume of
the gas during combustion stays constant; that is, the combustion process is at constant volume.
Consider the case where the gas density and temperature at the instant combustion starts are 11.3 kg/
m3 and 625 K, respectively. At the end of the constant volume combustion process, the gas
temperature is 4000 K. Calculate the gas pressure at the end of the constant volume combustion.
Assume that the specific gas constant for the fuel-air mixture is the same as that for pure air.

2.13 For the conditions of Prob. 2.12, calculate the force exerted on the top of the piston by the gas at
(a) the beginning of combustion and (b) the end of combustion. The diameter of the circular piston face
is 9 cm.
2.14 In a gas turbine jet engine, the pressure of the incoming air is increased by flowing through a
compressor; the air then enters a combustor that vaguely looks like a long can (sometimes called the
combustion can). Fuel is injected in the combustor, bums with the air, and then the burned fuel-air
mixture exits the combustor at a higher temperature than the air coming into the combustor. (Gas
turbine jet engines are discussed in Chap. 9.) The pressure of the flow through the combustor remains
relatively constant; that is, the combustion process is at constant pressure. Consider the case where the
gas pressure and temperature entering the combustor are 4 x 106 N/m 2 and 900 K, respectively, and the
gas temperature existing the combustor is 1500 K. Calculate the gas density at (a) the inlet to the
combustor and (b) the exit of the combustor. Assume the specific gas constant for the fuel-air mixture is
the same as that for pure air.

Chapter 4

(1) Consider a convergent duct with an inlet area A1 = 5 m 2 . Air enters this duct with a velocity V 1 = 10
m/s and leaves the duct exit with a velocity V 2 = 30 m/s. What is the area of the duct exit?

Answer: A2 = 1.67 m 2

Consider a convergent duct with an inlet area A1 = 3 ft 2 and an exit area A2 = 2.57 ft 2 Air enters this
duct with a velocity V 1 = 700 ft/s and a density ρ1= 0.002 slug/ ft 3, and air leaves with an exit velocity
V 2 = 1070 ft/s. Calculate the density of the air ρ2 at the exit.

Answer: ρ2= 0.00153 slug/ ft 3

Consider an airfoil (the cross section of a wing) in a flow of air, where far ahead (upstream) of the airfoil,
the pressure, velocity, and density are 2116 lb/ ft 2, 100 mi/h, and 0.002377 slug/ ft 3, respectively. At a
given point A on the airfoil, the pressure is 2070 lb/ ft 2 .What is the velocity at point A?

Answer: V A = 245.4 ft/s

Consider the same convergent duct and conditions as (1). If the air pressure and temperature at the
inlet are P1 = 1.2 x 105N/m 2 and T 1 = 330 K, respectively, calculate the pressure at the exit.

Answer: P2 = 1.195 x 105N/m 2

Calculate the internal energy and enthalpy, per unit mass, for air at standard sea level conditions in (a) SI
units and (b) English engineering units. For air at standard conditions, c v = 720 J/(kg)(K) = 4290 ft-lb/(slug)
(°R), and c p = 1008 J/(kg)(K) = 6006 ft-lb/ (slug)(°R).

Answer: (a) e = c v T = 2.07 x 105 J/kg h = c pT = 2.90 X 105 J/kg

(b) e = c v T = 2.23 x 106 ft-lb/slug h = c pT = 3.12 X 106 ft-lb/slug

An airplane is flying at standard sea-level conditions. The temperature at a point on the wing is 250 K.
What is the pressure at this point?

Answer: P2 = 6.14 x 104 N/m 2

In a rocket engine, the fuel and oxidizer are burned in the combustion chamber, and then hot gas
expands through a nozzle to high velocity at the exit of the engine. The flow through the rocket-engine
nozzle downstream of the combustion chamber is isentropic. Consider the case when the pressure and
temperature of the burned gas in the combustion chamber are 20 atm and 3500 K, respectively. If the
pressure of the gas at the exit of the nozzle is 0.5 atm, calculate the gas temperature at the exit. Note:
The combustion gas is not air, so the value for γ will be different than for air; that is, γ will not be equal
to 1.4. For the combustion gas in this example, γ = 1.15.

Answer: T 2 = 2167 K

In a supersonic wind tunnel, air temperature and pressure in the reservoir of the wind tunnel are
T 0 = 1000 K and P0 = 10 atm, respectively. The static temperatures at the throat and exit are T* = 833 K
and T e = 300 K, respectively. The mass flow through the nozzle is 0.5 kg/s. For air, c p = 1008 J/(kg)(K).
Calculate (a) Velocity at the throat V* (b) Velocity at the exit V e (c) Area of the throat A* (d) Area of the
exit Ae .

Answer: (a) V* = 580 m/s (b) V e = 1188 m/s (c) A* = 3.87 cm 2 (d) Ae = 24.2 cm 2

A jet transport is flying at a standard altitude of 30,000 ft with a velocity of 550 mi/h. What is its Mach
number?

Answer: M = 0.811

In a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel, one side of a mercury manometer is connected to the settling
chamber (reservoir) and the other side is connected to the test section. The contraction ratio of the
1
nozzle A2/ A1 equals . The reservoir pressure and temperature are P1 = 1.1 atm and T 1 = 300 K,
15
respectively. When the tunnel is running, the height difference between the two columns of mercury is
10 cm. The density of liquid mercury is 1.36 X 104 kg/m 3- Calculate the airflow velocity in the test section
V2.

Answer: V 2=144 m/s

The altimeter on a low-speed Cessna 150 private aircraft reads 5000 ft. By an independent
measurement, the outside air temperature is 505°R. If a Pitot tube mounted on the wing tip measures a
pressure of 1818 lb/ ft 2. (a) What is the true velocity of the airplane? (b) What is the equivalent
airspeed?

Answer: (a) V TRUE = 237 ft/s (b) V E = 219 ft/s

4.1 Consider the incompressible flow of water through a divergent duct. The inlet velocity and area are
5 ft/s and 10 ft 2, respectively. If the exit area is 4 times the inlet area, calculate the water flow velocity at
the exit.

4.2 Prob. 4.1, calculate the pressure difference between the exit and the inlet. The density of water is
62.4 lb m / ft 3, .
4.3 Consider an airplane flying with a velocity of 60 m/s at a standard altitude of 3 km. At a point on the
wing, the airflow velocity is 70 m/s. Calculate the pressure at this point. Assume incompressible flow.

A2 1
4.4 In a Venturi tube, assume = and P1−P2 = 80 lb/ ft 2 . If the airplane is flying at standard sea
A1 4
level, what is its velocity?

4.5 Consider the flow of air through a convergent-divergent duct, such as the venturi described in Prob.
4.4. The inlet, throat, and exit areas are 3, 1.5, and 2 m 2 , respectively. The inlet and exit pressures are
1.02 x 105 and 1.00 x 105N/ m 2 , respectively. Calculate the flow velocity at the throat. Assume
incompressible flow with standard sea-level density.

4.6 An airplane is flying at a velocity of 130 mi/h at a standard altitude of 5000 ft. At a point on the wing,
the pressure is 1750.0 lb/ ft 2 .Calculate the velocity at that point, assuming incompressible flow.

4.7 Imagine that you have designed a low-speed airplane with a maximum velocity at sea level of 90
m/s. For your airspeed instrument, you plan to use a venturi tube with a 1.3:1 area ratio. Inside the
cockpit is an airspeed indicator - a dial that is connected to a pressure gauge sensing the venturi tube
pressure difference P1−P2 and properly calibrated in terms of velocity. What is the maximum pressure
difference you would expect the gauge to experience?

4.8 A supersonic nozzle is also a convergent-divergent duct, which is fed by a large reservoir at the inlet
to the nozzle. In the reservoir of the nozzle, the pressure and temperature are 10 atm and 300 K,
respectively. At the nozzle exit, the pressure is 1 atm. Calculate the temperature and density of the flow
at the exit. Assume the flow is isentropic and, of course, compressible.

4.9 Derive an expression for the exit velocity of a supersonic nozzle in terms of the pressure ratio
between the reservoir and exit P0 / Pe , and the reservoir temperature T 0.

4.10 Consider an airplane flying at a standard altitude of 5 km with a velocity of 270 m/s. At a point on
the wing of the airplane, the velocity is 330 m/s. Calculate the pressure at this point.

4.11 The mass flow of air through a supersonic nozzle is 1.5 lb m/s. The exit velocity is 1500 ft/s, and the
reservoir temperature and pressure are 1000°R and 7 atm, respectively. Calculate the area of the nozzle
exit. For air, c pT = 6000 ft · lb/(slug)( °R).

4.12 A supersonic transport is flying at a velocity of 1500 mi/h at a standard altitude of 50,000 ft. The
temperature at a point in the flow over the wing is 793.32°R. Calculate the flow velocity at that point.

4.13 For the airplane in Prob. 4.12, the total cross-sectional area of the inlet to the jet engines is
20 ft 2 .Assume that the flow properties of the air entering the inlet are those of the free stream ahead of
the airplane. Fuel is injected inside the engine at a rate of 0.05 lb of fuel for every pound of air flowing
through the engine (i.e., the fuel-air ratio by mass is 0.05). Calculate the mass flow (in slugs per second)
that comes out the exit of the engine.

4.14 Calculate the Mach number at the exit of the nozzle in Prob. 4.11.
4.15 A Boeing 747 is cruising at a velocity of 250 m/s at a standard altitude of 13 km. What is its Mach
number?

4.16 A high-speed missile is traveling at Mach 3 at standard sea level. What is its velocity in miles per
hour?

4.17 Calculate the flight Mach number for the supersonic transport in Prob. 4.12.

4.18 Consider a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel with a nozzle contraction ratio of 1:20. One side of a
mercury manometer is connected to the settling chamber, and the other side to the test section. The
pressure and temperature in the test section are 1 atm and 300 K, respectively. What is the height
difference between the two columns of mercury when the test section velocity is 80 m/s?

4.19 We wish to operate a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel so that the flow in the test section has a
velocity of 200 mi/h at standard sea-level conditions. Consider two different types of wind tunnels: (a) a
nozzle and a constant-area test section, where the flow at the exit of the test section simply dumps out
to the surrounding atmosphere; that is, there is no diffuser, and (b) a conventional arrangement of
nozzle, test section, and diffuser, where the flow at the exit of the diffuser dumps out to the surrounding
atmosphere. For both wind tunnels (a) and (b) calculate the pressure differences across the entire wind
tunnel required to operate them so as to have the given flow conditions in the test section. For tunnel
(a), the cross sectional area of the entrance is 20 ft 2 and the cross-sectional area of the test section is 4
ft 2. For tunnel (b), a diffuser is added to (a) with a diffuser area of 18 ft 2. After completing your
calculations, examine and compare your answers for tunnels (a) and (b). Which requires the smaller
overall pressure difference? What does this say about the value of a diffuser on a subsonic wind tunnel?

4.20 A Pitot tube is mounted in the test section of a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel. The flow in the
test section has a velocity, static pressure, and temperature of 150 mi/h, 1 atm, and 70°F, respectively.
Calculate the pressure measured by the Pitot tube.

4.21 The altimeter on a low-speed Piper Aztec reads 8000 ft. A Pitot tube mounted on the wing tip
measures a pressure of 1650 lb/ ft 2. If the outside air temperature is 500°R, what is the true velocity of
the airplane? What is the equivalent airspeed?

4.22 The altimeter on a low-speed airplane reads 2 km. The airspeed indicator reads 50 m/s. If the
outside air temperature is 280 K, what is the true velocity of the airplane?

4.23 A Pitot tube is mounted in the test section of a high-speed subsonic wind tunnel. The pressure and
temperature of the airflow are 1 atm and 270 K, respectively. If the flow velocity is 250 m/s, what is the
pressure measured by the Pitot tube?

4.24 A high-speed subsonic Boeing 777 airliner is flying at a pressure altitude of 12 km. A Pitot tube on
the vertical tail measures a pressure of 2.96 x 104 N/ m 2. At what Mach number is the airplane flying?

4.25 A high-speed subsonic airplane is flying at Mach 0.65. A Pitot tube on the wing tip measures a
pressure of2339lb/ ft 2 . What is the altitude reading on the altimeter?
4.26 A high-perfom1ance F-16 fighter is flying at Mach 0.96 at sea level. What is the air temperature at
the stagnation point at the leading edge of the wing?

4.27 An airplane is flying at a pressure altitude of 10 km with a velocity of 596 m/s. The outside air
temperature is 220 K. What is the pressure measured by a Pitot tube mounted on the nose of the
airplane?

4.28 The dynamic pressure is defined as q = 0.5P V 2 For high-speed flows, where Mach number is used
frequently, it is convenient to express q in terms of pressure p and Mach number M rather than p and V.
Derive an equation for q = q(p, M).

4.30 Consider a Mach 2 airstream at standard sea-level conditions. Calculate the total pressure of this
flow. Compare this result with (a) the stagnation pressure that would exist at the nose of a blunt body in
the flow and (b) the erroneous result given by Bernoulli's equation, which, of course, does not apply
here.

4.31 Consider the flow of air through a supersonic nozzle. The reservoir pressure and temperature are 5
atm and 500 K, respectively. If the Mach number at the nozzle exit is 3, calculate the exit pressure,
temperature, and density.

4.32 Consider a supersonic nozzle across which the pressure ratio is Pe /P 0 = 0.2. Calculate the ratio of
exit area to throat area.

4.34 The wing of the Fairchild Republic A-1 OA twin-jet close-support airplane is approximately
rectangular with a wingspan (the length perpendicular to the flow direction) of 17.5 m and a chord (the
length parallel to the flow direction) of 3 m. The airplane is flying at standard sea level with a velocity of
200 m/s. If the flow is completely laminar, calculate the boundary layer thickness at the trailing edge
and the total skin friction drag. Assume the wing is approximated by a flat plate. Assume incompressible
flow.

4.35 In Prob. 4.34, assume the flow is completely turbulent. Calculate the boundary layer thickness at
the trailing edge and the total skin friction drag. Compare these turbulent results with the laminar
results from Prob. 4.34.

4.36 If the critical Reynolds number for transition is 106, calculate the skin friction drag for the wing in
Prob. 4.34.

4.38 The type of calculation in Prob. 4.3 is a classic one for low-speed, incompressible flow, that is, given
the free-stream pressure and velocity and the velocity at some other point in the flow, calculate the
pressure at that point. In a high-speed compressible flow, Mach number is more fundamental than
velocity. Consider an airplane flying at Mach 0.7 at a standard altitude of 3 km. At a point on the wing,
the airflow Mach number is 1.1. Calculate the pressure at this point. Assume an isentropic flow.

4.39 Consider an airplane flying at a standard altitude of 25,000 ft at a velocity of 800 ft/sec. To
experience the same dynamic pressure at sea level, how fast must the airplane be flying?