Novel Methods of Increasing Student Interest in Fluid Mechanics

摘要

Introductory fluid mechanics can be one of the most intimidating and challenging classes that engineering students take. Because fluid phenomena are so prevalent in everyday life, however, there are numerous opportunities to demonstrate the Concepts and equations of fluid mechanics with insightful, and often fun and exciting, classroom demonstrations. In this workshop, we present a number of novel in-class demonstrations that connect the equations of fluid mechanics to everyday phenomena, while making the subject matter more enjoyable for engineering students. Demonstrations include "The Super Soaker-dump truck" experiment for fluid momentum-force, the "Bernoulli Vacuum" where the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner is used hold a ping-pong ball firmly in place for the Bernoulli pressure-velocity relationship, "Drinking Games", a race to see who can achieve the highest Reynolds number in a straw and "Fluid Mechanics Judo" where the atmospheric pressure on a sheet of newsprint acts as a counter force allowing the instructor to break a large stick. An experimental procedure and comment section is provided for each of the four experiments.