“Everything flows”
Every day, vast amounts of water flow down rivers and create big waves in the ocean . Directly around us, air currents also cause movement. Thus, our world is in constant motion—both in the water and in the air. However, where there is much movement, chaos or disorder can also occur. This week, we will therefore deal with the flow of things and we will show you how and why things get turbulent when this flow is disturbed.
Activities for this week
- Science Chat with fluid dynamics researcher Michael Riedl
- Video “The art of blowing out a candle“
- Experiment “Starch pool“
- Introduction to the topic
Science Chat with fluid dynamics researcher Michael Riedl
Today, you had the opportunity to ask a researcher all you ever wanted to know about fluids. You have sent us a lot of questions, and here are finally all the answers from fluid expert Michael Riedl. Michael is part of the Hof research group at IST Austria, where he studies the nature of turbulence and the dynamics of complex fluids.
The art of blowing out a candle
We bet you that you won’t be able to blow out a candle from 1.5 meters distance. No matter how hard you blow, you can’t make it. In fact, blowing harder is the reason why you won’t make it. Why is that? The problem is turbulence. Today, we will explain to you how to become professionals at blowing out candles.
Starch pool
Have you ever dreamed of walking on water? No problem – we will show you how to do it! Okay, we will have to cheat a little: the liquid you can walk on, is not just water, it’s water mixed with starch. Here, you can see how to reproduce our experiment at home.
For last year’s Open Campus at IST Austria, we filled a huge pool with the viscous starch mass. The result? It worked – and it was great fun! See for yourself!
Introduction to the topic
Did you know that in 2018 wind flows were so strong that the current of the North Sea moved “the wrong way round” for a month and a half? Here we have collected some more exciting information for you. Can you answer all the questions?
