Fluid flow & mixture

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by Taylor

This doesn't have any real application anywhere; it's just something I thought of the other day. After posing the question to my Aerospace Engineering class, I don't have much more clarity.

Suppose there are two five-gallon buckets set next to each other. The first bucket is filled with Fluid A, the second bucket is filled with Fluid B. The two fluids are different, but they have identical densities. Bucket 1 has a hose in it, siphoning the fluid out onto the ground. A second hose goes from Bucket 2 into Bucket 1, running at the same rate as the first hose. Essentially, the level in Bucket 1 neither rises nor falls for the duration of the experiment.

After some amount of time, Bucket 2 will be empty, and Bucket 1 will be full of some mixture of Fluids A and B.

My question is this: At that time, what is the makeup of the solution? What percentage is Fluid A, what percentage is Fluid B?

If the experiment were performed again, would the results be repeatable? To what degree?

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Doesn't this problem rely on where the hoses are placed within the buckets? i.e. how much of bucket 1 passes through hose 1 and how much of bucket 2 flows through hose 1 in the transfer? Is there an assumption that the fluid from bucket 2 mixes thoroughly with bucket 1 before passing through the first hose onto the ground?

First off, I don't think this experiment can be reproduced.
Here is my thinking (flawed as it may be).

Originally Posted by Taylor

Suppose there are two five-gallon buckets set next to each other.

If these buckets are on the same level, which really isn't stated either way, then the level of the fluid in bucket #1 can not remain the same throughout the duration of the experiment.
With the density of the two fluids being the same, the flow through hose #2 could not be the same as through hose #1, unless acted upon by an external force other than gravity, such as a pump. Again, assuming the buckets are on the same level.

As Al mentioned, we would also need to know the height of the ends of the hoses and where they enter and exit each bucket.

Basically, there are too many variables at this point to answer the question.