Torricelli's law describes the parting speed of a jet of water, based on the distance below the surface at which the jet starts, assuming no air resistance, viscosity, or other hindrance to the fluid flow. This diagram shows several such jets, vertically aligned, leaving the reservoir horizontally. In this case, the jets have an envelope (a concept also due to Torricelli) which is a line descending at 45° from the water's surface over the jets. Each jet reaches farther than any other jet at the point where it touches the envelope, which is at twice the depth of the jet's source. The depth at which two jets cross is the sum of their source depths. Every jet (even if not leaving horizontally) takes a parabolic path whose directrix is the surface of the water.
Torricelli's law, also known as Torricelli's theorem, is a theorem in fluid dynamics relating the speed of fluid flowing from an orifice to the height of fluid above the opening. The law states that the speed of efflux of a fluid through a sharp-edged hole in the wall of the tank filled to a height above the hole is the same as the speed that a body would acquire in falling freely from a height ,
where is the acceleration due to gravity. This expression comes from equating the kinetic energy gained, , with the potential energy lost, , and solving for . The law was discovered (though not in this form) by the Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli, in 1643. It was later shown to be a particular case of Bernoulli's principle.
