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Hagen-Poiseuille Equation

Description

In fluid dynamics, the Hagen–Poiseuille equation, also known as the Hagen–Poiseuille law, Poiseuille law or Poiseuille equation, is a physical law that gives the pressure drop in a fluid flowing through a long cylindrical pipe. It can be successfully applied to air flow in lung alveoli, for the flow through a drinking straw or through a hypodermic needle. It was experimentally derived independently by Gotthilf Heinrich Ludwig Hagen in 1839 and Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille in 1838, and published by Poiseuille in 1840 and 1846.

The assumptions of the equation are that the fluid is incompressible and Newtonian; the flow is laminar through a pipe of constant circular cross-section that is substantially longer than its diameter; and there is no acceleration of fluid in the pipe. For velocities and pipe diameters above a threshold, actual fluid flow is not laminar but turbulent, leading to larger pressure drops than calculated by the Hagen–Poiseuille equation.

Related formulas

Variables

ΔPpressure loss (pascal)
μdynamic viscosity (pascal*s)
Llength of pipe (m)
Qvolumetric flow rate (m3/s)
πpi
rradius (m)