The mathematics of fluid dynamics still have many unknowns, which makes them an attractive playground for mathematicians of all stripes. One perennial area of interest is the Euler equations, which Keep reading
Tag: mathematics
Why Masks Cut COVID-19 Transmission So Well
Face masks are an important tool for curtailing disease transmission, and this video explains how even imperfect masks do a much better job of protecting people than you may think. Keep reading
Lava Barriers
Inspired by protecting people and property from lava flows, researchers investigated how viscous fluids flow downhill past large obstacles. As seen above, when the obstacle is tall enough that the Keep reading
Breaking the Euler Equations
Mathematicians like to break things. Or, more exactly, they like to know when the equations we use to describe physics break down. One popular target in fluid mechanics are the Keep reading
An Introduction to the Reynolds Number
For those who’d like an overview of the mathematics involved in fluid dynamics, Numberphile has a lovely introduction, given by our friend Tom Crawford. The governing equations in fluid dynamics, Keep reading
Finding New Shapes in Foam
In the summer of 2018, a group of researchers announced they’d discovered a new geometrical shape, the scutoid. They found the scutoid, a sort of twisted prism, in the shape Keep reading
An Introduction to Turbulence
With some help from Physics Girl and her friends, Grant Sanderson at 3Blue1Brown has a nice video introduction to turbulence, complete with neat homemade laser-sheet illuminations of turbulent flows. Grant Keep reading
Chocolate Fountain
Amidst your holiday celebrations, you may have encountered a chocolate fountain. In a recent paper, applied mathematicians have laid out the physics behind these delicious decorations, and it turns out Keep reading
Reader Question: Fractals and Turbulence
Reader 3d-time asks: Hi, there is a guy, at my college, who is doing a master’s degree thesis in turbulence. He says he uses fractals and computational methods. Can you Keep reading
River Paths
As a follow-up to this recent post about river meander, check out this video from Numberphile about some of the mathematics behind the path of rivers. A river’s course is Keep reading