Henri Pitot
Encyclopedia
Henri Pitot was a French
hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the Pitot tube
.
He became interested in studying the flow of water at various depths and was responsible for disproving the prevailing belief that speed of water increases with depth.
In a Pitot tube the height of the fluid column is proportional to the square of the velocity. This relationship was discovered intuitively by Henri Pitot in 1732, when he was assigned the task of measuring the flow in the river Seine
.
He rose to fame with the design of Aqueduc de Saint-Clément near Montpellier
and the extension of Pont du Gard
in Nîmes
. In 1724 he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences
, and in 1740 a fellow of the Royal Society
.
The Pitot theorem
of plane geometry is named after him.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the Pitot tube
Pitot tube
A pitot tube is a pressure measurement instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot Ulo in the early 18th century and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by French scientist Henry Darcy...
.
He became interested in studying the flow of water at various depths and was responsible for disproving the prevailing belief that speed of water increases with depth.
In a Pitot tube the height of the fluid column is proportional to the square of the velocity. This relationship was discovered intuitively by Henri Pitot in 1732, when he was assigned the task of measuring the flow in the river Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
.
He rose to fame with the design of Aqueduc de Saint-Clément near Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
and the extension of Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard
The Pont du Gard is a notable ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gard River in southern France. It is part of a long aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes in the South of France. It is located in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins, in the Gard département...
in Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. In 1724 he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
, and in 1740 a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
The Pitot theorem
Pitot theorem
In geometry, the Pitot theorem, named after the French engineer Henri Pitot, states that in a tangential quadrilateral the two sums of lengths of opposite sides are the same. The theorem is a consequence of the fact that two tangent line segments from a point outside the circle to the circle have...
of plane geometry is named after him.