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  • Resources

    I get a lot of questions from people who want to learn more about fluid dynamics, whether casually or seriously. Below are some resources that may be useful in such pursuits. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk (*).

    Videos

    • NCFMF Fluid Mechanics Series – This series of videos date from the 1960s and is intended to teach undergraduates about fluid dynamics. They remain an incredible source of demonstrations on all kinds of subjects in fluids. They feel a bit slow, but they are well worth the time.
    • Khan Academy’s Fluids series – A twelve part video series addressing some fundamentals of fluid dynamics.
    • CrashCourse Physics – If you want to dig into fluids further, it helps to know the basics. After all, the Navier-Stokes equations are simply Newton’s Laws applied to a fluid!
    • Science Off The Sphere – This video series by astronaut Don Pettit features FD and other physics in space.
    • Physics Central – Not FD-specific, but this website features lots of great educational physics, including fluid dynamics.
    • MIT + K12 – Includes fluids-related video lessons as well as many other science subjects.

    YouTube Channels

    • Library Laboratory (LIB LAB) – This project comes from fluid dynamicist A. J. Fillo. It’s aimed toward kids but is fun for all ages. Includes fluid dynamics and other topics in physics.
    • The Lutetium Project – This channel is produced by fluid dynamicists in France in conjunction with art and music students, so it offers a great intersection of art and science. Videos are available in French and English.

    Websites

    • U of Colorado’s Flow Visualization – One of my favorite websites dedicated to FD, this interdisciplinary course features engineering and art students working together to make beautiful FD. If you are at Colorado, take this course. Seriously.
    • APS Gallery of Fluid Motion – Every year the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics publishes the year’s best FD photos and videos. Most of this will look familiar to FYFD readers. 
    • CFD-Online – For anyone looking to get into computational fluid dynamics (CFD), this website and forum is full of great resources and comprehensive links.
    • Learn ChemE – Full of videos, screencasts, and simulations relevant to fluid dynamics.
    • Flow Visualization Facebook group – A nice place to find links to fun FD and clouds.
    • eFluids – More pretty pictures and videos from researchers.
    • opencalculus – Not directly fluids-related, but if you want to dig further into the subject, a strong foundation in math is important (see note to undergrads below).
    • Teaching Fluid Mechanics – This website focuses on demonstrations that can be used in the classroom to help teach and illustrate fluid dynamics concepts.

    Other FD Blogs

    • FlowViz – Focuses on general FD, much like FYFD does
    • Physics in Drops – Exploring the world of microfluidics
    • Liquifun – Lots of car-related aerodynamics as well as general FD
    • Symscape – Computational fluid dynamics, for the most part, but with general FD thrown in

    Books (No Diff EQ Needed)

    • An Album of Fluid Motion(*) by Milton van Dyke – This is a classic visual guide to fluid dynamics for laymen and practitioners alike.
    • The Life and Legacy of G. I. Taylor(*) by G. K. Batchelor – A great biography of one of the major fluid dynamicists of the 20th century. Taylor’s adventures range from measuring atmospheric turbulence from a ship deck to teaching himself to fly in WWI to measure pressure on a wing; from studying the swimming of microorganisms to helping predict the blast wave from the atomic bomb. Batchelor provides great insight into the man and his scientific process.
    • Life in Moving Fluids(*) by Steven Vogel – This text was written as an introduction to fluid dynamics for biologists and focuses largely on the subject’s applicability to that field. There’s some math in here, but not too much. Check out my full review.

    Books (For Those With Calculus/Diff EQ)

    • Fundamentals of Aerodynamics(*) by John Anderson – Anderson is known for textbooks (he has a bunch) that are good at introducing important concepts in fluid dynamics and aerodynamics without super-advanced mathematics and notation. This was my first aerodynamics textbook and my first introduction to the Navier-Stokes equations during my junior year.
    • Boundary Layer Theory(*) by Hermann Schlichting – Most of this text actually comes from 1930s German fluid dynamics class notes. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a great reference for advanced undergrads/early graduates working in FD.

    For Undergrads Who Want More Fluids But Don’t Know Where To Start

    In addition to the resources above, I have a couple of tips.

    • Look for professors who study fluid dynamics. – Check your school’s websites. Profs who do FD are often found in mechanical, aerospace, civil, and chemical engineering, but they can also be found in physics, mathematics, geology, atmospheric science, and theoretical and applied mechanics departments. Check out their research pages, find their office hours, and go talk to them. Volunteer to work in their lab. Demonstrate your interest!
    • Check out the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF REU) program. Positions in this program exist all over the U.S. and frequently involve doing research over the summer. Even if your school doesn’t have anyone who does FD, you can find a school that does and do research there over the summer. (Suggestion when looking for positions: search for “fluid”, “fluid dynamics”, “fluid mechanics”, etc.) If you like it, consider graduate school!
    • Build strong mathematical skills. – One aspect of fluids education I lament is its tendency to come so late (or not at all) in a students’ education—that’s part of why FYFD exists. But the truth is that researching FD requires a lot of math—calculus, differential equations, partial differential equations, etc.—courses that get taken in freshmen and sophomore years of college before professors even start talking about FD. Having a strong foundation in these subjects is very helpful, but it’s not a prerequisite to working in a lab as an undergrad.

    Got more suggestions for helpful fluid dynamics resources? Let me know.

    (*) Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links. Following these links and making a purchase may provide a commission to FYFD at no additional cost to you.

  • About FYFD

    FYFD Logo

    FYFD is dedicated to sharing the awesomeness that is fluid dynamics with the world—whether or not you care for calculus. It is a science and engineering outreach blog with a new post about the physics of liquids, gases, plasmas, or granular materials—anything that behaves like a fluid—five times a week. It features photos, videos, and research from scientists, engineers, and artists around the world along with a short explanation from FYFD’s author, Nicole Sharp.

    If you’re new, try exploring the archive to see some of the awesome physics FYFD has covered. You can also follow FYFD on YouTube or Twitter, and, if you decide you love FYFD and want to help support it, you can sign up as a patron on Patreon!

    FYFD’s creator and author is Nicole Sharp, who has a PhD in aerospace engineering, specializing in fluid dynamics. She accepts submissions, questions, event requests and more. You can also find Nicole directly as “aerognome” on Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.

    This site participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to Amazon. In other words, whenever you buy a book on Amazon from a link on here, FYFD receives a small percentage of its price. This does not affect how you shop, and any links included on FYFD will only go to products we endorse. But if you choose to buy through one of these links, know that you’re helping to support the many hours of work that go into this site.

    FYFD in the News

    For a more extensive list, see here.

  • Featured Video Play Icon

    Streaming Fire

    I’m just going to start this one with a blanket statement: DO NOT TRY THIS. Instead, enjoy the fact that the Internet enables us to enjoy the sight of burning gasoline in slow mo without any danger to ourselves.

    In this video, Gav and Dan capture a burning bucket of gasoline as it’s thrown against glass. One thing this stunt really highlights is that it’s not the liquid gasoline that burns, it’s the vapor. However, since gasoline is volatile – in other words, it evaporates easily – the fire is quick to spread, especially as the toss atomizes droplets near the edge of the fluid. That’s why you see distinct streaks near the edge of the spreading flame and a non-burning liquid in the center. (Image and video credit: The Slow Mo Guys)

    Flaming gasoline flies toward the viewer and spreads against glass in slow motion
  • Featured Video Play Icon

    “Silk”

    With the right lighting and eye, billowing streaks of dye and paint can become the ethereal wisps of silk. Artist Susi Sie explores this dichotomy in “Silk,” a short, fluidic film made entirely in macro. Sometimes there’s astounding beauty in the complexity of a fluid filmed up close. (Video and image credit: S. Sie)

  • Seeing Past the Surface

    Seeing Past the Surface

    Satellite imagery has revolutionized remote sensing and our ability to observe the world around us. But peering past the surface of water has always been next to impossible. We might be able to see the extent of a coral reef from a photo, but thanks to the interplay of light and water, the details are too blurry to identify what species we’re looking at.

    To solve this issue, researchers decided to work backwards, taking everything we understand about the physics of light – refraction, reflections, and so on – and using it to remove the distortions. The result is NASA’s FluidCam, an instrument capable of of taking a video of shallow waters less than 10 m deep, processing it, and producing images with sub-centimeter accuracy showing what lies beneath. Tests in American Samoa revealed details fine enough that scientists were able to identify multiple coral species as well as many of the species of fish inhabiting the reef. 

    With coral reefs changing quickly, this technology may be invaluable for monitoring coral health without actively disrupting these delicate systems. (Image credit: N. Usry; research credit: V. Chirayath and A. Li; via OceanBites; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh) 

  • Whale Feeding

    Whale Feeding

    Whether in groups or as individuals, humpback whales are canny hunters. They herd prey together by encircling them and releasing bubbles that form a “net” that bars escape. Then, the whales lunge through the center with open mouths, gathering prey. Scientists have long wondered whether humpbacks’ unusually long pectoral fins played any role in their hunting. New drone observations of whales feeding (see video below) are beginning to provide some hints.

    The scientific teams observed multiple individual whales feeding under the same circumstances and found that the whales used their fins quite differently. Both used them as additional barriers to prevent prey from escaping, but one whale favored a horizontal fin position that created currents that helped sweep prey into its mouth. The other whale used a more vertical fin position that, while hydrodynamically unfavorable, exposed its bright underside, which seemed to startle prey into fleeing into its darker, more inviting mouth. (Image credit: K. Kosma; video credit: M. Kosma; research credit: M. Kosma et al.; via Science)

  • Freezing Bubbles

    Freezing Bubbles

    Scientists have observed distinctive differences in the way soap bubbles freeze depending on their environment. If a bubble is surrounded by room temperature air but placed on a cold surface (top), it freezes from the bottom up, with a clear freeze front that slowly creeps upward.

    In contrast, bubbles in an isothermal environment – one where it’s equally cold everywhere – freeze with a snow-globe-like effect of ice crystals (bottom). This freezing mode is actually triggered by a Marangoni flow. As the thin bottom layer of the soap bubble begins to freeze, it releases latent heat. That local heating changes the surface tension enough to generate an upward flow. You can see the plumes form right as the bubble touches the surface. Those plumes lift up tiny ice crystals, which continue to grow, ultimately forming the snowy crystals we see take over the surface. (Image and research credit: S. Ahmadi et al.; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)

  • Turning a Corner in Microfluidics

    Turning a Corner in Microfluidics

    Over the past couple decades, microfluidic devices have become a staple of medical and biological diagnostics and analysis. Tests that once required large and specialized equipment can now be completed closer to a patient, using only a few drops of sample fluid. Running multiple tests on a single chip can become difficult, though, since flow through the device tends to dissolve and mix the dried reagents used for tests. But a new method cleverly uses fluidic forces to keep reagents separated without the need for complicated microfluidic structures.

    The basic concept is outlined in the illustration above. You’re looking down on a microfluidic channel that’s long and very thin. A shallow groove down the middle serves as a barrier by pinning the contact line of the incoming fluid. So when the sample fluid flows in through the inlet on the left, it will only fill the top half of the cell. When it reaches the far right side, it turns the corner and flows to the left, encountering the first of the dried reagents it must dissolve for the device’s tests. The fluid will fill the lower channel quickly and then come to rest while the reagents dissolve. 

    With both sides of the channel full of liquid, the shallow barrier can no longer hold, and the fluid will take up the full width of the channel, with two well-dispersed – but separated – regions of reagents. Once that’s happened, a valve – represented by the pale blue line near the right side of the illustration – releases the fluid into the next section of the chip, allowing the analysis to proceed. (Image credit: Nature; research credit: O. Gökçe et al.; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)

  • “Transient 2”

    “Transient 2”

    Where cold and warm air meet, our atmosphere churns with energy. From the turbulence of supercell thunderclouds to the immense electrical discharge of lightning, there’s much that’s breathtaking about stormy skies. Photographer Dustin Farrell explores them, with a special emphasis on lightning, in his short film, “Transient 2″. 

    As seen in high-speed video, lightning strikes begin with tree-like leaders that split and spread, searching out the path of least resistance. Once that line from cloud to ground is discovered, electrons flow along a plasma channel that arcs from sky to earth. The estimated temperatures in the core of this plasma reach 50,000 Kelvin, far hotter than the Sun’s surface. It’s this heating that generates the blue-white glow of a lightning bolt. The heating also expands the air nearby explosively, producing the shock wave we hear as a crash of thunder. (Images and video credit: D. Farrell et al.; via Colossal)

  • Nighttime Streets

    Nighttime Streets

    Clouds spiral behind the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria in this nighttime satellite imagery. Although it’s not entirely unusual to see these von Karman vortex street clouds in the wakes of islands, this is the first time I’ve seen them at night. They form when winds off the ocean are forced up and around rocky islands. Like air moving past a cylinder, the flow forms a swirling vortex off one side of the island, which separates and moves downstream while another forms on the island’s opposite side. When the resulting flow mixes with a cloud layer, we can see the pattern from space. (Image credit: J. Stevens; via NASA Earth Observatory)

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