So… we’re trying to cope with the heat just like the rest of the country.
I set up two desktop fans. One is about 5” in diameter. The other is about 10” in diameter.
My son set up the 5” fan behind the 10” fan as a sort of turbocharger thinking that the resulting airflow out of the second fan would be faster if the air flow in was faster.
My wife and I told him we didn’t think it would work the way he thought it would.
And, of course, the answer came back “Why not?”
Um, er, well….
My wife said, “It can’t work or, at least, the net effect can’t be significant. Otherwise, we’d use the principle everywhere.”
My response: “Just because it isn’t practical (i.e. an efficient use of energy) doesn’t mean it might not work in principle
So, I throw the question to you scientists and armchair scientists…. Would this increase the speed of the air flow or not? If so, how does it do so? If not, why doesn’t it? What are the relevant principles to consider here?
2006-07-25
07:28:28
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7 answers
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asked by
Richard S
1
in
Physics