Frequently Asked Questions on Fluid Friction
Why are boats and airplanes streamlined?
Streamlined shapes reduce fluid friction, enabling smoother movement through air or water.
How does fluid friction affect swimming?
Fishes’ streamlined shapes minimize fluid friction, allowing efficient swimming with minimal energy loss.
What is laminar flow?
Laminar flow refers to smooth, orderly fluid motion, contrasting with turbulent flow characterized by irregular fluctuations.
Is friction present when a ball moves through air?
Yes, even in air, objects experience fluid friction due to air resistance.
Fluid Friction
Fluid friction occurs between fluid layers that are moving relative to each other. This internal resistance to flow is called viscosity or viscous drag or fluid friction. In normal terms, the viscosity of a fluid is described as its “thickness” of the fluid. Thus, water is “thin”, having a lower viscosity, while honey is “thick”, having a higher viscosity. The less viscous the fluid, the greater its ease of deformation or movement.
All real fluids (except superfluids) offer some resistance to shearing and therefore are viscous. Although the term “fluid” includes both the liquid and gas phases, in common usage, “fluid” is often used synonymously with “liquid”. Liquids and gases are called fluids because they can be made to flow or move. In any fluid, the molecules themselves are in constant, random motion, colliding with each other and with the walls of any container. In this article, we will learn in detail about fluid friction, its properties, example and more.