The statics of fluids may seem simple at first but often poses problems for students when it comes to applying it to concrete cases. Despite its relatively simple laws, some subtleties, mainly related to the elastic characteristics of a fluid, must be noted. This elasticity allows the pressure exerted in a part of the fluid to propagate in its…

Although the old problem of rotating liquid is described and solved in many textbooks and articles, the story still remains interesting. Intuitive understanding of the equipotential spatial surfaces is very difficult. This article is an attempt to present Newton's rotating tank in the light of the law of conservation of energy.

Newton's laws are a ubiquitous topic in introductory physics instruction. One common problem involves asking what will happen if you stick your finger into a cup of water sitting on a scale. A way to solve the problem would be to first recognize that the water exerts a buoyant force upward on the finger, which students can recognize as being the…

Archimedes' principle is one of the foundation subjects in physics. Normally the principle is exemplified by reference to floating boats. However, Archimedes' principle also applies to objects embedded in waterlogged ground, which can lead to the surprising result of an object weighing several tons being lifted. A practical example is presented of…

We report on an investigation of student thinking about steady-state pipe flow of an incompressible fluid. About 250 undergraduate engineering students were given a test consisting of two hydrodynamics questions, combining multiple-choice format with subsequent open-ended explanations. There is substantial evidence that students have difficulty…

The long and complex history to define the composition of water as H[subscript 2]O is summarized. This case study could be useful not only to introduce the history of chemistry in the classroom but also to teach the basic tenets of the nature of science (NOS). Water has been present in several turning points in the history of chemistry such as the…

One of the most popular demonstration experiments pertaining to Bernoulli's principle is the production of a water spray by using a vertical plastic straw immersed in a glass of water and a horizontal straw to blow air towards the top edge of the vertical one. A more general version of this phenomenon, appearing also in school physics problems, is…

Service-learning (SL) is an active learning approach that connects the knowledge a student acquires in the classroom to an application that benefits the community. Increasingly popular in the chemistry curriculum, service-learning is reported to provide student benefits including improved cognitive goals; increased academic, interpersonal, and…

We have observed a nice example of chromatic dispersion due to refraction in water, in the form of color fringes bordering the black stripes that exist at the bottom of a swimming pool. Here we give a qualitative description of the phenomenon, explaining the role of the black stripes and the dispersive index of refraction of water.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the stability of a bottle filled with different volumes of water, and to determine the angle at which it topples over for each volume of water. Data for the angle at which the bottle toppled were gathered experimentally using a cylindrical 1 litre bottle, and two theoretical models were then developed,…

This work presents a simple analogue waterproof temperature probe design and its electronic interfacing with a computer to compose a data acquisition system for water temperature measurement. It also demonstrates the system usage through an experiment to verify the water heating period with an electric heater and another to verify the Newton's law…

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), with new emphasis on engineering, reflects broadening definitions of scientific and technological literacy. However, engaging in science and engineering practices is necessary, but insufficient, for developing technological literacy. Just as robust scientific literacy includes a deep understanding of the…

Observation of the water jets flowing from three equidistant holes on the side of a vertical cylindrical bottle is an interesting and widely used didactical experiment illustrating the laws of fluids in motion. In this paper we analyze theoretically and numerically the ranges of the stationary water jets flowing from various rotationally symmetric…

Previously appearing in this journal were photographs of a physics apparatus, developed circa 1880, that was believed to be used to demonstrate the "Bernoulli effect." Drawings of these photographs appear here and show that when there is no flow, the water level h[subscript PT2] in the piezometer tube at location (2) is at the same level…

A simple setup is designed to investigate a "time-of-flight" measurement of the speed of sound in water. This experiment only requires low cost components and is also very simple to understand by students. It could be easily used as a demonstration experiment.