Material volume element 2026-10-18
A material volume element contains the same fluid particles as it moves and deforms. If its edges transform with the local velocity gradient, its volume changes at a rate equal to the trace of that gradient, giving . Mass conservation states , not that its volume is always fixed. These two identities give the material form of the continuity equation, .
For an inviscid material volume element, neglecting body forces, Newton's second law gives . Since mass conservation keeps constant, the result is . Cancelling before differentiating would incorrectly omit its changing volume. A fixed control volume instead requires the advected momentum flux, yielding .
The first argument mixes a material fluid element with a fixed spatial volume. For a material volume element following the fluid, its volume is generally time dependent:Therefore the material derivative cannot be taken outside the product with as in the proposed cancellation. Instead, mass conservation statesThe momentum balance for a material fluid element, using Newton's second law, is consequentlyFor a fixed control volume, fluid crosses its boundary and carries momentum; a momentum flux term must be included. Its local conservative form is , equivalent to the displayed Euler equations after using the continuity equation. The erroneous equation omits the term needed to convert a material derivative of momentum density into this conservative form.
For the second task, take a homogeneous fluid with constant mass density , prescribed gravitational acceleration , incompressible flow and inviscid flow. Its equations areUnder the replacement , the same velocity solves these equations if , up to a spatially constant pressure offset. This is density scaling invariance of incompressible Euler flow:The comparison assumes the same geometry and compatible velocity or gravitational free surface conditions; an independently specified nonuniform boundary pressure would supply additional information. The gravitational field is taken as prescribed. If the fluid's own self-gravity must be included, its field changes with mass density, so the invariance need not hold. A single freely moving particle's density-independent gravitational acceleration does not justify neglecting that distinction.