Hydraulics

Hydraulics, branch of science concerned with the application of the properties of liquids (particularly water), at rest and in motion, to engineering problems. Since any machine or structure that uses, controls, or conserves a liquid makes use of the principles of hydraulics, the scope of this subject is very wide. It includes methods of water supply for consumption, irrigation, or navigation and the design of associated dams, canals, and pipes; hydro-electricity, the conversion of water power to electric energy using hydraulic turbines; the design and construction of ditches, culverts, and hydraulic jumps (a means of slowing down the flow of a stream by suddenly increasing its depth) for controlling and discharging flood water; and the treatment and disposal of industrial and human waste. Hydraulics applies the principles of hydrostatics and is hence a branch of fluid mechanics.