[Physics] Calculating pressure at a point in a pipe

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How do I work out what the pressure will be at a given point in a pipe?

I am working with a pipe of diameter 3.5cm at point 1 which then joins to a pipe of 1.4cm diameter at point 2. I know that the flow rate is constant at 270 litres/hour. I can assume steady incompressible flow and that the liquid is water. I am trying to find out if there will be a) a significant pressure increase due to the smaller diameter, and b) what the pressure is at either point 1 or two of the pipes.

So far, I have calculated the areas at both points, $A_1=9.62\,\mathrm{cm}^2$ and $A_2=1.54\,\mathrm{cm}^2$. I have used the flowrate to calculate the velocity at point 1, using $A_1$, to be 0.0779m/s. Then I used the continuity equation to determine the velocity at point 2, $v_2$ as 0.4866m/s. Then I rearranged the Bernoulli equation, neglecting differences in heights to work out $P_2 – P_1 = 115.316\ \mathrm{Pa}$. But how do I find what either $P_1$ or $P_2$ is?

Best Answer

For an incompressible (or essentially incompressible) fluid, pressure is determined only to within an arbitrary constant. The only way to establish an absolute pressure is to match a boundary condition, which is not available in this problem specification.