I-Corps L Compressible Flow Water Table

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

The learning innovation developed at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) includes an in-house built water table, relevant wing models, and educational material. The project intends to scale the innovation to high school, community college and university education. The hydraulic analogy is between water flow with a free surface and two-dimensional compressible gas flow. The concept of hydraulic analogy demonstrated in the water table can serve as a great analogy not only for airplane wings but also rocket nozzles, wind turbines and many other flow related phenomena. The experiment is based on a well-known analogy between waves in compressible two dimensional flow of air to the surface waves of a shallow water layer over a flat surface. The innovation will be used in the course to demonstrate to students the hydraulic analogy using inexpensive tools. The hypothesis of this project is that the water table is a useful invention to reinforce high school and community college education. The hypothesis will be tested by conducting 100 interviews with relevant and potential customers. Students who participate in active learning with hands-on experiments learn through self-discovery. This will attract students to engineering and science and provide lasting learning experiences. Systematically, they learn to change their presumptions about the phenomena in physics and discover the underlying concepts. This way of teaching will develop critical thinking among students and effectively engage them in classrooms. The team expects not only to use this tool broadly at UC Davis, but anticipates that other educational institutes will adopt this method.