Doubling the ground speed of a sprayer while nozzle pressure remains constant will cause the application rate to:

Doubling the ground speed of a sprayer while nozzle pressure remains constant will cause the application rate to:

• A. Increase the application rate
• B. Reduce the application rate by half
• C. Remain the same
• D. Increase the application rate by a factor of four

Answer: (B)

When you keep the nozzle pressure (and thus the flow rate) constant, the amount of liquid being discharged per minute stays the same. Doubling the ground speed means you’re covering about twice as much ground in the same minute. So the same volume of spray is spread over twice the area, cutting the application rate by half. In short, application rate is basically flow rate divided by ground speed, so doubling speed while flow is unchanged halves the rate.

When you keep the nozzle pressure (and thus the flow rate) constant, the amount of liquid being discharged per minute stays the same. Doubling the ground speed means you’re covering about twice as much ground in the same minute. So the same volume of spray is spread over twice the area, cutting the application rate by half. In short, application rate is basically flow rate divided by ground speed, so doubling speed while flow is unchanged halves the rate.