Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-L] conserved momentum thru gas



Appreciate the responses, John, Keith, Philip.

This somewhat reminds me of the challenge of experiments with gravity
(scaling).

(wanted to have a fuller response but got hit by whatever's going around
just now; perhaps later).

Thanks,
-Omar

On Sun., Dec. 18, 2022, 9:52 p.m. John Sohl via Phys-l, <
phys-l@mail.phys-l.org> wrote:

Air has viscosity. As such it gets dragged with the rotating surface that
it is in contact with.

You could ask the same question about the hydrosphere. Water has more
viscosity than air, but either way, it gets dragged with the moving
surface.

In both cases there are thermal currents, Coriolis effects, waves,
resonances, etc. but the bulk of the material gets dragged with the
surface. In time that propagates through the entire fluid and thus the
stratosphere gets dragged along with the troposphere, etc.

True, there isn't a lot of viscosity, but we have had 4+ billion years of
our secondary atmosphere which is way more than enough time for it to be
dragged forward at all altitudes.

- - - -
John E. Sohl, Ph.D.
WSU Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Department of Environmental Science
Weber State University
1415 Edvalson St., Dept 2508
Ogden, UT 84408-2508

Office: TY 326
Office phone: (801) 626-7907
cell: (801) 476-0589 (Text me, I don't answer the phone if you are not in
my contacts.)
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@mail.phys-l.org
https://www.phys-l.org/mailman/listinfo/phys-l