Theoretical topics of fluid dynamics relevant to natural phenomena or man-made hazards in water and atmosphere. Basic law of fluid motion. Scaling and approximations. Slow flows, with applications to drag on a particle and mud flow on a slope. Boundary layers: jets and plumes in pure fluids or in porous media. Thermal and buoyancy effects, selective withdrawal and internal waves. Transient boundary layers in impulsive flows or waves. Induced streaming and mass transport. Dispersion in steady flows or in waves. Effects of earth rotation on coastal flows. Wind induced flow in shallow seas. Stratified seas and coastal upwelling.

These resources are a selection of audio and video podcasts from a first year Dynamics class MAM1044H at the University of Cape Town. The lectures cover a wide range of topics. Systematic introduction to the elements of mechanics kinematics in three dimensions Newtons laws of motion models of forces friction elastic springs fluid resistance Conservation of energy and momentum Simple systems of particles including brief introduction to rigid systems Orbital Mechanics with applications to the planning of space missions to the outer planets

Students learn how forces are used in the creation of art. They come to understand that it is not just bridge and airplane designers who are concerned about how forces interact with objects, but artists as well. As "paper engineers," students create their own mobiles and pop-up books, and identify and use the forces (air currents, gravity, hand movement) acting upon them.

When we look at the night sky, we see stars and the nearby planets of our own solar system. Many of those stars are actually distant galaxies and glowing clouds of dust and gases called nebulae. The universe is an immense space with distances measured in light years. The more we learn about the universe beyond our solar system, the more we realize we do not know. Students are introduced to the basic known facts about the universe, and how engineers help us explore the many mysteries of space.

Students will design and build a device to protect and accurately deliver a dropped egg. The device and its contents represent a care package that must be safely delivered to people in a disaster area with no road access. In a similar fashion to a team of design engineers, students will design their devices using a number of design constraints including limited supplies. The activity emphasizes the change from potential energy to kinetic energy of the device and its contents and the energy transfer that occurs on impact. Students will enjoy this activity and attain deeper understanding of mechanical energy.

You will be investigating the physics behind the launching of a bottle rocket that you will design and build.

Students build their own roller coasters using pipe insulation and marbles, and then analyze them using principles of physics. They examine conversions between kinetic and potential energy and frictional effects to design roller coasters that are completely driven by gravity. A class competition is then held to determine the most innovative and successful roller coasters.

Working in teams of four, you and your team will build a tetrahedral kite following a specific set of directions and using specific provided materials. You will use basic processes of manufacturing systems -- cutting, shaping, forming, conditioning, assembling, joining, finishing, and quality control -- to manufacture a complete tetrahedral kite within a given time frame. Evaluation of your project will involve the efficiency of your team as well as your finished product.

Students will discover the terminal velocity to mass relationship and use this information to calculate the air resistance constant. They will evaluate the accuracy of their lab using the Monte Carlo method.

Students construct a three-dimensional model of a water catchment basin using everyday objects to create hills, mountains, valleys and water sources. They experiment to see where rain travels and collects, and survey water pathways to see how they can be altered by natural and human-made activities. Students discuss how engineers design structures that impact water collection, and systems that clean and distribute water.

Watch the ZOOM cast learn about center of gravity by trying to balance a pencil on their fingers and noses.

Fact-sheet outlining a method of approach for finding the distance (h) of the center of gravity of compound bodies from an axis.

The Colliding Galaxies Model is an implementation of Alar and Juri Toomres' 1972 super computer model showing the formation of galactic bridges and tails under the assumption that galactic cores are point masses and that one galactic core is surrounded by 2D concentric rings of orbiting stars. The model assumes is that the stars (test particles) orbiting the galactic cores are non-interacting. When the two galaxies pass one another, tidal forces deform the star distribution into classic tidal features. Our EJS model reproduces this result showing that there is a long curving tail and that only the outermost ring of stars is affected by its companion galaxy. A thin bridge is also formed and some of the stars are captured by the companion galactic core.

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members use a hair dryer to balance a ball in a stream of air, seemingly defying gravity.

How can you keep a ball from falling out of a jar if the jar is upside down? Watch the ZOOM cast use centripetal force to meet this challenge.

In this video segment, the ZOOM cast is challenged to keep a ping pong ball in a funnel while the funnel is held upside down, seemingly defying gravity.

Motion is vital to life, and to science. This unit will help you to understand why classical motion is probably the most fundamental part of physics. You will examine motion along a line and the ways in which such motion can be represented, through the use of graphs, equations and differential calculus.

Students explore the effects of gravity, friction and air resistance upon acceleration when they design their own bobsleds.

After a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works, students will create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students will test their designs, which will be followed by a class discussion (and possible journal writing) to highlight which paper material worked best.