Bernoulli's equation
MCAT glossary · Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
Definition
P + ½rhov^2 + ρgh = constant; applied to fluid flow; explains lift, Venturi effect, hydrostatic pressure.
Bernoulli's equation in plain English
Bernoulli's equation is an energy budget for a moving fluid: it says a flowing liquid or gas has a fixed total made of its pressure, its motion, and its height, and if one goes up another must come down. The key payoff — where fluid speeds up, its pressure drops. That's the trick behind airplane lift (air rushing faster over the wing has lower pressure, so higher pressure underneath pushes the wing up) and why squeezing a hose nozzle makes water shoot out faster. In the formula P + 1/2ρ v^2 + ρ gh = constant, P is pressure, ρ is the fluid's density, v is its speed, g is gravity, and h is height — just three forms of energy that always add up to the same number.
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