Autumn Quarter 2013

Instructor: Greg Hakim

Class meets: MWF 10:30-11:20 ATG 310C.

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4 October 2013 (#5) : We started looking at angular momentum parallel to Earth's axis as a way to get at the Coriolis force. Quiz #1 was given.

2 October 2013 (#4) : We derived the viscous force in a manner very similar to the pressure gradient force, with the following exceptions. Pressure is a normal force, and acts inward on the edges of the air parcel, whereas the viscous force is along the faces of the air parcel; this introduces a minus sign relative to the pressure gradient derivation. Second, for each component of the velocity, there is a contribution from all three coordinate directions. The result is a Laplacian relationship between the fluid speed and acceleration, proportional to a constant (kinematic viscosity). The physical interpretation is that momementum is diffused from regions of fast fluid to regions of slow fluid, reducing the gradients in fluid speed.

30 September 2013 (#3) : We started the conservation law block with a definition of the continuum hypothesis and the notion of an air parcel. Forces relevant to Newtons' second Law are: gravity, pressure gradient, and viscous. We worked out and discussed the gravitational and pressure gradient forces.

27 September 2013 (#2) : Finished the math review with the gradient operator: div, curl, and integral theorems (divergence and Stokes).

25 September 2013 (#1) : Introduction, motivation, and syllabus review. We started a mathematical review, which included derivatives and vector analysis.