Wind turbines face a paradoxical challenge: they must extract the wind’s kinetic energy while still allowing the air to pass. In this Minute Physics video, Henry gives a crash course Keep reading
Tag: conservation of energy
Dam Release
Here the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers release 13,000 cubic feet per second (~370 cubic meters per second) of water at a dam in Oklahoma. That’s the equivalent of nine-and-a-half Keep reading
Asteroid Impact
I often receive questions about how fluids react to extremely hard and fast impacts. Some people wonder if there’s a regime where a fluid like water will react like a Keep reading
Jumping Droplets
When droplets on a superhydrophobic surface coalesce with one another, they jump. Individually, each drop has a surface energy that depends on its size. When two smaller droplets coalesce into a larger drop, Keep reading
The White Hole in Your Sink
Ever notice the distinctive ring that forms in your kitchen sink when you turn the water on? This phenomenon is known as a hydraulic jump; it occurs when a fast Keep reading