For a compressible fluid in a tube the volumetric flow rate Q (x) and the axial velocity are not constant along the tube; but the mass flow rate is constant along the tube length. The volumetric flow rate is usually expressed at the outlet pressure. As fluid is compressed or expanded, work is done and the fluid is heated or cooled. This means that the flow rate depends on the heat transfer to and from the fluid. For an ideal gas in the isothermal case, where the temperature of the fluid is permitted to equilibrate with its surroundings, an approximate relation for the pressure drop can be derived. Using ideal gas equation of state for constant temperature process (i.e., p / ρ ρ is constant) and the conservation of mass flow rate (i.e., m ˙ ˙ = ρ ρ Q is constant), the relation Qp = Q 1 p 1 = Q 2 p 2 can be obtained. Over a short section of the pipe, the gas flowing through the pipe can be assumed to be incompressible so that Poiseuille law can be used locally,