Question

(See Fluids in the News article titled “Modeling parachutes in a water tunnel”.) Flow characteristics for a 35-ft-diameter prototype parachute are to be determined by tests of a 1.0-ft-diameter model parachute in a water tunnel. Some data collected with the model parachute indicate a drag Fm = 22 lb when the water velocity is 4 ft/s.
(a) Find the predictor equation. Assume the drag to be a function of the velocity, V, the fluid density, ρ, and the parachute diameter, D. Note that model variables have subscripts m.

(b) Use the model data to predict the drag on the prototype parachute falling through air at 10 ft/s.

Answer 1