From the course: Practical Engineering

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Vacuum phenomena in pipes

Vacuum phenomena in pipes

- In the last two videos we looked at phenomena that can create high pressure spikes in pipes. But a lot of people rightly pointed out that very low pressure in pipes can be equally as dangerous. Hey, I'm Grady, and this is Practical Engineering. On today's episode we're revisiting the water hammer video to take a look at negative pressure. (light music) If you watched the water hammer video I made a few months back, you'll know that slamming a valve shut on a flowing pipe can cause a huge spike in pressure. That's because the fluid inside a pipe has a lot of momentum and fluids aren't compressible enough to absorb sudden changes in velocity. Spikes in pressure aren't always bad, but they can be dangerous if a pipe bursts or just expensive by requiring stronger pipes with higher pressure ratings. But in that video I didn't talk about what happens on the other side of the valve. So I'm revisiting that demonstration with a few modifications so we can get the full picture. Here's the…

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