💧 Cavitation Run
Drive the flow through a narrowing pipe. Squeeze through a throat and continuity speeds the liquid up, so Bernoulli drops the pressure. Let the throat pressure fall to the vapour pressure and the liquid boils — cavitation — and your pump takes damage. Go fast for score, throttle down for the throats.
▲ / ▼ arrows (or drag mouse up/down on the canvas) throttle the flow. Faster flow = more distance per second, but a bigger pressure drop in the throats. Click the canvas to start / restart.
The physics behind the game
V₂ = V₁·(A₁/A₂) • p₂ = p₁ + ½ρ(V₁² − V₂²) • cavitation when p₂(abs) ≤ Pv
As the pipe narrows (area A₂ falls) continuity accelerates the flow and Bernoulli converts that kinetic energy into a pressure drop. Vapour pressure rises steeply with temperature (0.6 kPa at 0 °C → 101.3 kPa at 100 °C), so hot water cavitates far more easily. Engineers keep the local pressure above Pv everywhere to protect pumps, turbine runners and propellers. Values are illustrative teaching approximations.