Torricelli’s law - Class 11 Physics PDF Download

Torricelli’s law, also known as Torricelli’s principle, or Torricelli’s theorem, statement in fluid dynamics that the speed, v, of fluid flowing out of an orifice under the force of gravity in a tank is proportional to the square root of the vertical distance, h, between the liquid surface and the centre of the orifice and to the square root of twice the acceleration caused by gravity (g = 9.81 N/kg near the surface of the earth).

In other words, the efflux velocity of the fluid from the orifice is the same as that it would have acquired by falling a height h under gravity. The law was discovered by and named after the Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli, in 1643. It was later shown to be a particular case of Bernoulli’s principle.

The Torricelli’s equation is derived for a specific condition. The orifice must be small and viscosity and other losses must be ignored. If a fluid is flowing through a very small orifice (for example at the bottom of a large tank) then the velocity of the fluid at the large end can be neglected in Bernoulli’s Equation. Moreover the speed of efflux is independent of the direction of flow. In that case the efflux speed of fluid flowing through the orifice given by following formula:

v = √2gh