APPH E4200 Site Information

Welcome to the APPH E4200 Physics of Fluids class information site.

APPH E4200x Physics of Fluids 3 pts. Prerequisite: APMA E3102 Partial Differential Equations or equivalent; PHYS 1401 Introduction to Mechanics and Thermodynamics or 1601 Mechanics/Relativity or equivalent. An introduction to the physical behavior of fluids for science and engineering students. Derivation of basic equations of fluid dynamics: conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. Dimensional analysis. Vorticity. Laminar boundary layers. Potential flow. Effects of compressibility, stratification, and rotation. Waves on a free surface; shallow water equations. Turbulence.

The physics of fluids is a fascinating subject. Everyone has experienced the wonder of fluid phenomena, like ripples in a lake, violence and variability of weather, flight of airplanes, and mixing of cream in coffee. Fluid behavior is both complex and familiar. Because of this, the physics of fluids is one of the best subjects to apply our understanding of mathematics and our basic laws of physics to describe non-trivial phenomena and important applications.

APPH E4200 is an introductory course in fluids.  We approach the subject as physicists, as opposed to engineers or mathematicians (though elements of mathematics and engineering enter naturally).  Our goal is for students to attain a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the subject. 

In the first part of the course we will understand the basic equations and introduce principles that are essential to all aspects of fluid mechanics.  Before long we will move on to study specific types of fluid flow. 

The minimum prerequisites for this course are a year of college level physics (including mechanics and basic thermodynamics), and mathematics through multivariable calculus.  However, the class will be considerably easier if you have had more physics and mathematics than that. Prior experience with partial differential equations is particularly useful.  I will also assume at least a minimal knowledge of complex variables. If you are at all concerned about your level of preparation, come see me.

Kundu and Cohen, Fluid Dynamics, 3^rd edition.  In the opinion of Prof. Adam Sobel, this is one best textbooks available on the subject!

From its genesis, the text has aimed to offer a balanced approach rather than the more narrow coverage of those written for applied mathematicians, or for readers interested exclusively in engineering applications. Even so, the author is cautious about mixing engineering and geophysical fluid dynamics, generally separating them in different chapters. (Book News, June 2004) Hardcover: 759 pages Publisher: Academic Press; 3 edition (April 8, 2004) ISBN-10: 0121782530 ISBN-13: 978-0121782535 Amazon.com Customer Review: 4.5 stars; 11 reviews.

Problem sets will be assigned throughout the term, approximately once per week and a half (i.e. every 3rd lecture).  You are welcome to work on them in small groups, as long as you write up your answers yourself and make sure that you understand what you are writing.  If you try, you may be able to find old copies of the solutions from previous years.  You are not allowed to use these. 

There will be a midterm and a final exam. 

The grading for the course will be, approximately: either 25% problem sets, 50% final, 25% midterm, or 66% final, 33% midterm, whichever is greater.  In other words, doing the problem sets cannot hurt your grade, and is, strictly speaking, optional, though I highly recommend it. 

This Web Site is a basic resource for APPH 4200. Copies of my lecture notes will be available for download in Adobe PDF formats.

A preliminary lecture plan is llisted below. I anticipate changes as we move along. Some topics may require more lecture time, and some will require less. Depending on your interests and comments, we may change some of the topics in the last third of the course.

Homework problem sets will be posted below. You will have one or two weeks to prepare your solutions. I will post homework solutions one the day after they are due; therefore, I will not grade or accept late homeworks.

During the Spring semester, a graduate student teaching assistant (TA) is available to help with grading and with any other questions.

Wikipedia's Fluids sites:

• Fluid Dynamics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_dynamics
• Note topics like: Bernoulli's equation, Viscosity, and Stream function.

eFluids a specialty web portal designed to serve as a one-stop web information resource for anyone working in the areas of flow engineering, fluid mechanics research, education and directly related topics. Check it out! Including Gallery of Flow Images, Experiments, and Problems.

Brown University's site on computational fluid mechanics and visulaizations.

NSF's site for Fluid Dynamics research funding.

CFD Online

MIT's Fluids Lab and Gallery