Question

What does a pitot tube measure? Upon which principle does a pitot tube work?

(a) Pressure, Bernoulli’s principle

(b) Velocity, Bernoulli’s principle

(c) Pressure, Euler’s equation

(d) Velocity, Euler’s equation

I had been asked this question in an international level competition.

Query is from Introduction to Fluid Dynamics in chapter Fluid Dynamics of Fluid Mechanics

Answer 1

Right option is (a) Pressure, Bernoulli’s principle

To explain I would say: Even though a pitot tube may be primarily used to find velocity of a fluid, the Pitot tube measures pressure and not velocity. The Pitot tube works upon the Bernoulli’s principle as it gives us pressure heads.