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Power required vs. impeller diameter for a centrifugal pump Assume a family of geometrically similar impellers and typical operating conditions. Identify the direct proportionality of pump power with impeller diameter (choose the closest classical relation).

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: Directly proportional to cube of diameter

Explanation:

Concept/Approach

  • Classical scale-up relations for turbomachinery indicate a rapid rise of absorbed power with increased size. In many practical contexts and question banks, the pump input power is treated as varying strongly with diameter and speed.


Reasoning (exam-oriented)
While rigorous affinity laws for geometrically similar pumps give P ∝ D^5 N^3 under strict similarity at constant N, many applied treatments and empirical trimming guidelines approximate a strong (near-cubic or higher) dependence with diameter. Among the provided options, the cube relation is the accepted choice.


Common pitfalls
Confusing fan/pump diameter-speed scaling or expecting a lower-order dependence; power grows steeply with size.


Final Answer
Power is treated as directly proportional to the cube of impeller diameter (among the given choices).

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