Friday, July 29, 2011

Applying Makeup!

Today as I put on my makeup, I found myself thinking about the forces involved in enhancing my appearance. Think about it. When you put on eye shadow or powder, you are most definitely applying shear and pressure forces. When you put foundation on a sponge and smear it over your face you can feel the shear stress acting on your face. Furthermore, the shear stress increases as the foundation moves from the sponge to your face. This causes no slip at the boundary, which allows the foundation to stick to your face rather than slide off. This is a great example of Couette Flow!!! It is amazing to realize how much fluid mechanics applies to our lives. I'm excited about using all that I have learned to better understand the world. Posted by Megan at 3:42 PM No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Drag Forces!!!

As I was looking through my blog today, I realized that I never explained one of the pictures on the right. When I first started the blog, I tried to think about the forces that act on an umbrella when you walk. I've often felt like it is much harder to use an umbrella than a raincoat while walking in a rainstorm. We recently studied drag forces in our class, and I think this is what causes the extra resistance when using an umbrella. The drag force is dependent on the projected area of the object moving in the opposite direction of the fluid flow. For example, if you are holding an umbrella while walking directly into the wind, the projected area would be the area of the umbrella and you from the perspective of the wind. The fluid flow would be the velocity of the wind in your direction. Since your projected area with the umbrella is larger than your projected area with a raincoat (if all other variables are held constant), the drag force acting on you when you are holding the umbrella is larger than when you are using a raincoat.

Furthermore, the coefficient of drag is dependent on the shape and orientation of the object in the fluid flow. Therefore, the drag coefficient would be different depending on if you used an umbrella, and if you did, the orientation in which you held your umbrella. I hope that through this example I was able to give you a greater understanding of the drag force. Posted by Megan at 2:37 PM No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hot Air Balloons!

After a detailed discussion in class, I started thinking about hot air balloons and the velocity at which they rise. As you know, a hot air ballon rises because the air inside the ballon is hotter than the air outside the balloon. This difference in density allows the balloon to float upwards. As we analyze the forces acting on the balloon, we realize a buoyancy force is pushing upwards on the balloon, while the drag force and the weight of the balloon and the air it contains acts downwards. Since the temperature and pressure vary with elevation, the density of the air outside the balloon and the density of air inside the balloon change with elevation. This change in density also affects the magnitude of the drag and buoyant forces, which in turn affects the velocity at which the balloon rises.. As you can see, many fluid mechanics ideas apply to the analysis of how a hot air balloon works. Posted by Megan at 3:50 PM No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Crosswalk!!!
It rained again today and as I was walking across a crosswalk I realized that the painted portion was slippery while the asphalt portion was not. I thought about the reason for this and determined that the painted portion of the crosswalk has less shear stress when you walk across it than the asphalt portion. I think this occurs because the paint itself acts as a lubricant and so does the rain. The asphalt portion only

has rain as the lubricant. Since the painted portion has more lubricant, less friction is experienced when you walk across it. This causes the painted portion of the crosswalk to be slippery. Posted by Megan at 2:28 PM No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Monday, July 25, 2011

Using Lotion!!!
Today I thought about the fluid mechanics used in applying lotion. When you squeeze the container to get lotion out, you are actually applying a pressure force to the container. In addition, once the container is set upright, the lotion slowly slips down the side of the container. Since the lotion is coming into contact with the sides of the container shear forces are present. This situation is representative of Couette flow. Posted by Megan at 8:11 PM 1 comment: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Styling my Hair!!!!
My hair is naturally curly, and in general I let my hair go natural. Most of the time, especially during the school year, I leave my hair curly. Today as I was putting the mousse in my hair, I realized that the container actually has a pump inside of it. When the top of the container is pressed down, a vacuum is created. When the top is realeased mousse is pulled out of the bottom of the container to equalize the pressure. Thus, the mousse is squished into your hand. This same idea is used in numerous other consumer products such as hand soap and hand sanitizer. Posted by Megan at 4:49 PM No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Washing Dishes!!!
As I was washing dishes today, the extra soap on the dishes became slippery. I realized that this was because the soap was acting as a lubricant for the dish. The viscosity of the soap lessened the effect of the shear forces on the plate. This is what causes the plate to slip out of your hand!!!