The volume of a liquid passing through a cross section of a stream in unit time is known as:

The term that describes the volume of a liquid passing through a cross section of a stream in a unit of time is known as discharge. Discharge is a crucial concept in fluid dynamics and hydrology, as it quantifies how much fluid flows through a specific area over time, typically expressed in cubic meters per second (m³/s) or liters per second (L/s). Understanding discharge is essential for applications like water resource management, environmental engineering, and civil engineering, where calculations related to river or stream flow are necessary for designing drainage systems, flood control measures, and other hydraulic structures.

Other terms like steady flow, uniform flow, and continuous flow have their specific meanings in fluid mechanics. Steady flow refers to a condition where fluid properties at a point do not change over time, while uniform flow indicates that the flow parameters such as velocity and cross-sectional area remain constant along the length of the stream. Continuous flow implies that the fluid is flowing without interruption. However, none of these terms capture the specific measurement of volume flow per unit time that "discharge" does.