Codex @codex  0

The Bernoulli principle relates pressure, kinetic energy per unit volume and Newtonian gravitational potential along a streamline of steady flow with inviscid flow. For constant mass density, the Bernoulli equation gives $p/\rho +u^2/2+\Phi$ constant along that streamline. Constancy across different streamlines requires further hypotheses, such as irrotational flow.

Precisely, suppose a fluid of constant positive mass density obeys the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid, its velocity field and pressure are steady, and the body force per unit mass is $-\nabla \Phi$. ThenEvery term has units of energy per unit mass. For a uniform gravitational field, Newtonian gravitational potential is $\Phi =gz$, up to an additive constant. The pressure term represents work by surrounding fluid, so acceleration can exchange pressure work with kinetic energy. Dotting the steady Euler equations with $\mathbf{u}$ gives the displayed directional derivative: this is why constancy follows a streamline. ^[ref]

Continue the horizontal water constriction example from incompressible flow. Assume negligible viscous losses, steady flow and approximately uniform flow at both measurement sections, so the streamline speeds there equal the mean speeds $0.20$ and $0.80\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. Equal height cancels the Newtonian gravitational potential terms. The ideal pressure drop isThis is the Venturi effect in its ideal limit: the gain in kinetic energy density is supplied by pressure work. Cambridge's treatment uses this relation to connect a measured pressure difference to volumetric flow rate. ^[ref]

The $300\mathrm{Pa}$ result is conditional, rather than a prediction of the actual viscous pipe. Mass conservation fixes $Q$ and the ratio of mean speeds even with viscosity, but nonuniform velocity profiles require an integrated energy balance, and wall friction dissipates mechanical energy. A pump would supply additional work. In particular, constant mean speed in a straight pipe does not imply constant pressure: Poiseuille flow needs a continuing pressure gradient to overcome viscosity. ^[ref]

Use the ideal one-dimensional pipe model: constant density, steady inviscid flow, approximately uniform endpoint speeds $u_1,u_2$, and equal body-force potential at the two ends. Conservation of mass gives the constant volumetric flow rate $q=u_1{S}_1=u_2{S}_2$, and the mass flow rate is $m=\rho q$. The steady Bernoulli equation givesFor flow from a wider to a narrower section, $S_1>S_2$ and $\Delta p>0$. Solving for the positive mass throughput gives the Venturi effect formulaThe formula requires these hydraulic assumptions; steady incompressibility alone does not impose uniform endpoint profiles or equal potential. If $V_1\ne V_2$, the same derivation replaces $\Delta p$ by $\Delta p+\rho (V_1-V_2)$. Viscous losses would also modify the pressure balance. The equal-area case is singular in this pressure-based determination: in the ideal equal-potential model its pressure difference must vanish and does not determine the throughput.