turbulence
The mathematical problem with turbulence.
Soon you will be able to step inside a mathematical space and experience the beauty and importance of maths!
It's not just evil villians who can blow smoke rings, it seems peat moss has been doing it for millennia.
Describing the motion of fluids is a huge and unsolved mathematical problem. There are equations that seem to describe it well, but their complete solution is way beyond reach. But could there be a simpler method? The physicist Jerry Gollub tells Plus about a new discovery which combines experiment with sophisticated maths.
Can researchers solve the mathematics of turbulence at the smallest scale?
Plus talks to Christine Hogan, programmer, sysadmin and author, now studying aerodynamics and hoping to become a member of a Formula One team.
Have you ever noticed what happens when you spin a coin on a table? As the coin starts to fall over and roll on its edge, its spin gets faster and faster until it suddenly stops altogether.
Here is an experiment that you can easily do yourself to test Bernoulli's equation. There are also 2 questions and answers.
Have you ever been in an aeroplane on a smooth flight when suddenly the plane bumps up and down for a short time as it goes through turbulent air? The study of turbulence is used to understand a range of phenomena from the simple squirting of a jet of water to the activity of the sun.