Our global ocean currents move enough water to dwarf the flow of all Earth’s rivers. This worldwide circulation is driven largely by density and the movements of cold, salty water Keep reading
Tag: density
Meeting Without Mixing
When bodies of water meet, they don’t always mix right away. Here we see the confluence of the Back and Hayes Rivers in the Canadian Arctic. The Back River appears Keep reading
Dual Structure of Water
Water is so ubiquitous in our lives that we rarely recognize just how strange it is. For example, when pure liquid water is supercooled well below its freezing temperature, it Keep reading
Convection Without Heat
We typically think of convection in terms of temperature differences, but the real driver is density. In the animations above, cream sitting atop a liqueur is undergoing solutal convection – Keep reading
Convection
Blue paint in alcohol forms an array of polygonal convection cells. We’re accustomed to associating convection with temperature differences; patterns like the one above are seen in hot cooking oil, Keep reading
“Ink in Motion”
In this short film, the Macro Room team plays with the diffusion of ink in water and its interaction with various shapes. Injecting ink with a syringe results in a Keep reading
Accidental Painting
Some paintings of Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros feature patchy, spotted areas of contrasting color formed by what Siqueiros described as “accidental painting”. Many modern artists use this technique as well. Keep reading
“Oil Spill”
In “Oil Spill” artist Fabian Oefner explores the shapes and colors of oil floating atop water. An old adage tells us that oil and water don’t mix, but this is not Keep reading
Living Fluid Dynamics
This short film for the 2016 Gallery of Fluid Motion features Montana State University students experiencing fluid dynamics in the classroom and in their daily lives. As in her previous Keep reading
Seeing Blast Waves
With a large enough explosion, it’s actually possible to see shock waves. This high-speed camera footage shows the detonation of a car packed with explosives. After the initial flash, you Keep reading