How does a centrifugal pump accelerate the fluid without violating conservation of mass?
I'm trying to understand centrifugal pumps and I'm stuck on what seems like a contradiction.
In a centrifugal pump, the impeller accelerates the fluid — especially giving it a high circumferential velocity as it moves from the center toward the outer diameter. The fluid also gains kinetic energy.
At the same time, the law of conservation of mass (continuity) says that the mass flow rate must be constant: what enters the pump must exit (Qin = Qout for steady flow), as well as through the pump.
How is it possible that the fluid speeds up while the flow rate stays the same?
u/EstateBrave4248 — 9 days ago