Why study fluid flow?
Within the context of this Virtual Workshop on Electricity and Magnetism, we study fluid flow because electricity is also a kind of fluid — one which we cannot see flowing through wires. Study of fluids that we can see makes the ideas more concrete. Fluids are interesting for themselves, too. The branch of knowledge that studies them is called fluid dynamics, and it has the honor of being the only part of physics that deals with everyday matters for which the mathematical description is incomplete or at least poorly understood. It is an important part of the physics of the weather, and explains how airplanes fly, why a spinning ball curves, and how the molten interior of the earth gives rise to volcanoes. Discussing all these would be fun, but we would never get to electricity and magnetism! Here are some applications of the ideas of this section: • In a house with forced-air heating or central airconditioning, the treated air is carried to the various rooms of the house through large
