Fluid Dynamics and Bernoulli's Equation

Since fluid dynamics involves the study of the motion of fluid, one of the first concepts that must be understood is how physicists quantify that movement. The term that physicists use to describe the physical properties of the movement of liquid is flow. Flow describes a wide range of fluid movement, such blowing through the air, flowing through a pipe, or running along a surface. The flow of a fluid is classified in a variety of different ways, based upon the various properties of the flow. Fluid dynamics offers a systematic structure—which underlies these practical disciplines—that embraces empirical and semi-empirical laws derived from flow measurement and used to solve practical problems. The solution to a fluid dynamics problem typically involves the calculation of various properties of the fluid, such as flow velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as functions of space and time. Before the twentieth century, hydrodynamics was synonymous with fluid dynamics. This is still reflected in names of some fluid dynamics topics, like magnetohydrodynamics and hydrodynamic stability, both of which can also be applied to gases.