Bernoulli’s equation, energy and enthalpy

Abstract

In this paper, we expose and compare two different physical interpretations of Bernoulli’s equation. One interpretation is that pressure must be a type of potential energy density, and Bernoulli’s equation means the uniformity of the mechanical energy density in each streamline. However, the pressure behaves as potential energy density only for steady flows, a situation that includes Bernoulli’s equation. Another interpretation is that pressure is not a type of potential energy density, the mechanical energy density changes along the streamlines, but the work from pressure balances the energy variation. The last interpretation implies that enthalpy density is uniform in each streamline. We conclude that the two interpretations are valid, it is not possible to exclude a particular interpretation, and both of them do not violate the law of conservation of energy.