Like footballs and baseballs, the trajectory of a volleyball is strongly influenced by aerodynamics. When spinning, the ball experiences a difference in pressure on either side, which causes it to swerve, per the Magnus Keep reading
Tag: laminar-turbulent transition
The Telstar 18
Every four years, Adidas creates a newly designed ball for the World Cup. This year’s version is the Telstar 18, which features six glued panels (no stitching!) with a slightly Keep reading
The Coexistence of Order and Chaos
One of the great challenges in fluid dynamics is understanding how order gives way to chaos. Initially smooth and laminar flows often become disordered and turbulent. This video explores that Keep reading
HIFiRE
Earlier this month, an international team launched a successful hypersonic flight test in Australia. The Hypersonic International Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) Flight 5b was launched atop a two-stage rocket and reached Keep reading
The Reverse Magnus Effect
A good soccer player can kick the ball from the corner of the field into the goal thanks to the Magnus effect. But if you’ve ever tried to play soccer Keep reading
How Fluid Dynamics Saved the Space Shuttle
New FYFD video! In which Dianna Cowern (Physics Girl) joins me to explore boundary layer transition and how a couple of small bits of roughness could be a huge problem Keep reading
“Smoke”
Ethereal forms shift and swirl in photographer Thomas Herbich’s series “Smoke”. The cigarette smoke in the images is a buoyant plume. As it rises, the smoke is sheared and shaped Keep reading
Frisbee Physics, Part 2
Yesterday we discussed some of the basic mechanics of a frisbee in flight. Although frisbees do generate lift similarly to a wing, they do have some unique features. You’ve probably Keep reading
Brazuca
Since 2006, Adidas has unveiled a new football design for each FIFA World Cup. This year’s ball, the Brazuca, is the first 6-panel ball and features glued panels instead of Keep reading
The Reynolds Experiment
One of the most famous and enduring of all fluid dynamics experiments is Osborne Reynolds’ pipe flow experiment, first published in 1883 and recreated in the video above. At the Keep reading