Having trouble grasping Fluid Mechanics. Tips?

[Mike415]

Ive found Fluids and Heat Transfer stuff to be difficult so far in my learning. I, for some reason, can't put everything together and feel like there is just this overwhelming abundance of equations that you need to know how to manipulate to get what is asked. My issue is that I don't know where to start when given a problem and told to find something like the velocity field. Basically, this type of problem is expected in engineering, but in Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics I feel like I am just sinking and in way over my head. Other classes are much easier for me like Int. Dynamics or Vibrations.

So now I am here studying for a Fluids II test and I am just completely over my head. I was hoping someone could shed some light on maybe a new way of thinking that would help me put this all together.

This may be a bit too broad, but really its all I can manage to say since I am so lost.

Im dealing with Pipe Flows, Flow over a body, Navier Stokes, Bernoullis, Drag, Lift.

Its not things like Reynolds numbers that I have issues with, its things like when to use the conv. of mass versus energy, vs Bernoullis, vs Navier Stokes. I have hundreds of equations all over my worksheets, books and notes, and its just a mess that I am looking for tidy up in my brain.

I did well in the first Fluids since it was applications of a few equations, but when I am given a ton of derivations and equations and told to use them I fall flat.

 

[Navin A S]

I would greatly appreciate any advice or help, whether it be a different way of thinking, or a specific reference that has helped you in the past. One suggestion I can offer is to break down the problem into smaller, more manageable parts. It's important to understand the underlying concepts and principles of fluid mechanics, but sometimes it can be helpful to take a step back and look at the problem as a whole. Start by breaking down the problem into its component parts, and then focus on solving each part individually. This will help you to better understand the overall problem, and also make it easier to identify which equations are appropriate for each part. Additionally, if you can draw diagrams of each part of the problem, this can help you to visualize the situation better. Once you have worked through each part of the problem, you can then combine the solutions to get the overall solution.