When a drop of ethanol lands on a pool of water, surface tension forces draw it into a fast-spreading film. Evenly-spaced plumes form at the edges of the film, then Keep reading
Tag: shear layers
Ocean Waves in the Sky
These wave-like Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds can form due to shear between different layers of air in the atmosphere. When one region of air has a higher velocity than the other, their Keep reading
Smoke Transition
Smoke issuing from a round jet undergoes transition from laminar to turbulent flow. As the smoke moves past the unmoving ambient air, the friction between these two layers creates shear Keep reading
Jupiter and the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability
Jupiter, known for its colorful bands of stormy clouds, is a beautiful subject for fluid dynamics in action. As the planet turns, the cloud bands move at different relative speeds. Keep reading