In physics and engineering, mass flow rate is the mass of a substance which passes through a given surface per unit of time. Its unit is kilogram per second in SI units, and slug per second or pound per second in US customary units. The common symbol is (pronounced "m-dot"), although sometimes μ (Greek lowercase mu) is used.
Sometimes, mass flow rate is termed mass flux or mass current, see for example Fluid Mechanics, Schaum's et al. In this article, the (more intuitive) definition is used.
Read more about Mass Flow Rate: Definition, Alternative Equations, Usage, Analogous Quantities
Famous quotes containing the words mass, flow and/or rate:
“For half a mile from the shore it was one mass of white breakers, which, with the wind, made such a din that we could hardly hear ourselves speak.... This was the stormiest sea that we witnessed,—more tumultuous, my companion affirmed, than the rapids of Niagara, and, of course, on a far greater scale. It was the ocean in a gale, a clear, cold day, with only one sail in sight, which labored much, as if it were anxiously seeking a harbor.... It was the roaring sea, thalassa exeessa.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The method of painting is the natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.... I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end.”
—Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)
“Writing a book I have found to be like building a house. A man forms a plan, and collects materials. He thinks he has enough to raise a large and stately edifice; but after he has arranged, compacted and polished, his work turns out to be a very small performance. The authour however like the builder, knows how much labour his work has cost him; and therefore estimates it at a higher rate than other people think it deserves,”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)