[utabintarbo]

Originally posted by bigben2k
Interesting.

Since you brought up fittings, maybe you can answer something that's been bugging me for the longest time:

We all know that a 90 deg elbow is very restrictive. What we end up doing, as much as possible, is taking the 90 degree bend over a larger radius, by bending a tube.

My question: how much of a benefit is this, really?

I mean, the mass of water will still be re-directed 90 degrees, so the same amount of work is applied. I do understand that because of the sharp bend, the flow will tend to "keep going straight", which is restrictive, but isn't the same being done over a much larger radius?

Centripedal acceleration?