Darcy’s law

Darcy’s law is an equation that describes the flow of a fluid through a porous medium. The law was formulated by Henry Darcy based on results of experiments on the flow of water through beds of sand, forming the basis of hydrogeology.

Groundwater flows from high elevation to low elevation and from high pressure to low pressure; the gradients in potential energy drive groundwater flow.  Darcy’s law says that the discharge rate q is proportional to the gradient in hydrauolic head and the hydraulic conductivity (q = Q/A = -K*dh/dl).

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