physics

Fluid Dynamics

The physics of flowing fluids — from laminar streams to turbulent chaos, explore Reynolds numbers, Bernoulli's principle, and the beauty of fluid motion.

fluid dynamicsturbulenceBernoulliReynolds numberviscosityNavier-Stokeslaminar flow

Fluid dynamics governs everything from blood flow in arteries to weather patterns across continents, from airplane lift to ocean currents that regulate climate. It is one of the most practically important and mathematically challenging branches of physics — the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem remains one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems with a $1 million reward.

These simulations explore key fluid phenomena. Watch the transition from smooth laminar flow to chaotic turbulence, see how Bernoulli's principle creates lift, observe diffusion spreading particles through a medium, and explore how viscosity determines a fluid's resistance to flow.

4 interactive simulations

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Bernoulli's Principle & Lift Simulator

Explore how faster-moving air creates lower pressure, generating lift on an airfoil — the fundamental physics behind airplane wings and race car aerodynamics

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Fick's Law of Diffusion Simulator

Watch particles spread from concentrated to dispersed through Brownian motion — visualizing Fick's law, random walks, and the square-root-of-time diffusion scaling

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Laminar vs Turbulent Flow Simulator

Visualize the transition from smooth laminar flow to chaotic turbulence by adjusting velocity, pipe diameter, and fluid properties to compute the Reynolds number

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Viscosity & Poiseuille Flow Simulator

Explore how viscosity determines fluid flow rates through pipes — visualize parabolic velocity profiles and discover why small radius changes have enormous effects