Celebrating the physics of all that flows with Nicole Sharp, Ph.D.
- Profile
Sailing Faster than the Wind
Is it possible to create a vehicle that uses the wind to move itself directly downwind faster than the wind does? Strangely enough, it is. The concept has been the subject of debate for years, but one team has confirmed the physics by building a vehicle that uses wind but can travel 2.8x faster than…
Non-Newtonian Fun
Non-Newtonian fluids are a favorite for displaying odd behaviors. High-speed video simply improves the experience. Remember, though, that non-Newtonian fluids don’t actually become solids when you hit them. They just react similarly to a solid because they exhibit a nonlinear response to deformation.
Microgravity Boiling
Boiling a liquid is a common enough phenomenon that we are all familiar with it. But, as with many aspects of fluid mechanics, removing gravity drastically changes the situation.
Bubble Art
Bubbles are all about surface tension and minimizing energy. Arrange things just right and you can even make square ones. (via JetForMe)
Island Vortices
The von Karman vortex street isn’t just found in the wake of cylinders in a lab. Wind moving over islands frequently creates the effect, as in this MODIS Aqua image of the coast of Baja California, Mexico. #
How Wings Create Lift
One of the topics in fluid dynamics almost everyone has come across is the explanation of how airplanes produce lift. Using Bernoulli’s principle–which relates velocity and pressure–and a picture of an airfoil, your average science text will say that a bit of air going over the top of the airfoil has to travel farther than…
Rain Drops in Puddles
As those of us in Texas get drenched by Tropical Storm Hermine, it’s worth taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of each rain drop hitting a puddle.
Superfluids
Cooling helium down to 2 Kelvin creates a superfluid, a special type of fluid that exhibits some bizarre properties. Superfluids have zero viscosity, meaning that they are frictionless, and infinite thermal conductivity, which means that any temperature changes are immediate throughout the fluid.