Exercises Illustrating Flow in Porous Media

A set of physically based exercises is described for illustrating concepts and processes related to fluid movement in porous media. These exercises revolve around a permeameter that costs several dollars to construct and requires no external equipment and no electrical power to operate. The exercises can be used to illustrate concepts related to pressure and fluid statics, Darcy's equation for both gases and liquids, infiltration, and flow in layered media. Although the permeameter was originally developed as a teaching aid, it may also be useful in field applications as a tool to estimate air and hydraulic conductivity. Additional testing is recommended to further assess the accuracy of the results for field applications.