Stagnation point

In fluid dynamics, a stagnation point is a point in a flow field where the local velocity of the fluid is zero.^{: § 3.2} The Bernoulli equation shows that the static pressure is highest when the velocity is zero and hence static pressure is at its maximum value at stagnation points: in this case static pressure equals stagnation pressure.^{: § 3.5}

The Bernoulli equation applicable to incompressible flow shows that the stagnation pressure is equal to the dynamic pressure and static pressure combined.^{: § 3.5} In compressible flows, stagnation pressure is also equal to total pressure as well, provided that the fluid entering the stagnation point is brought to rest isentropically.^{: § 3.12}

A plentiful, albeit surprising, example of such points seem to appear in all but the most extreme cases of fluid dynamics in the form of the "no-slip condition" - the assumption that any portion of a flow field lying along some boundary consists of nothing but stagnation points (the question as to whether this assumption reflects reality or is simply a mathematical convenience has been a continuous subject of debate since the principle was first established).