Fluids Introduction Introduction

We betcha can't name one action that doesn't involve fluids. Eating? Nope. Breathing? Sorry. Swimming? Try again. Flying? That's right: even when we're flying as Superman in our dreams, guess what, we're surrounded by fluids too. We've probably all been told as kids to drink "plenty of fluids" when we're sick or to always check the brake fluid.

Our point is that it's time for the madness to stop. Ready for the scientific definition?

Fluids aren't (only) liquids. Oh, that's not a definition but a preamble. Whatevs. Again, we say that fluids aren't just liquids.

Liquids, on the other hands, are fluids, but so are gases and some solids. Starting to see a pattern here? If we apply a force on a material and something happens, it's a fluid. And what do we mean by something? We might not see anything happen, since the molecules in fluids are so small, but we can still make sense of how fluids act microscopically by exploring how forces change the fluid on a macroscopic scale. In this module, we'll investigate the concepts of forces, density, pressure, buoyancy, hydrostatic equilibrium, fluid dynamics and lots of other nifty little tricks and facts that are bound to impress everyone without exception.

We'll get to learn how the center of an atom operates, the consequences of an apple falling, problems in history dealing with crowns and thieves, bravely diving into the ocean at the mercy of the ocean, lifting heavy cars with very little force, climbing mountains at high altitudes, flying airplanes, and even how our very own Sun will die. Dun dun dun….

Ready? We're about to start a journey that'll take us all the way from the depths of the seas to across the universe. Maybe we'd better find a submarine spaceship.