Describes the relationship between the drag force acting on a small sphere in a viscous fluid and the velocity of the sphere.
Viscosity: The measure of a fluid's resistance to flow.
Drag force: The force opposing motion of an object through a fluid.
Terminal velocity: The maximum velocity that an object can reach while falling through a fluid due to drag force and gravitational force balance.
Reynolds number: A dimensionless quantity indicating whether a fluid flow is laminar or turbulent.
Newtonian fluids: A class of fluids whose viscosity remains constant regardless of shear rate.
Non-Newtonian fluids: A class of fluids whose viscosity varies with shear rate and/or time.
Sedimentation: The process of settling of particles in a fluid due to gravitational force.
Buoyancy: The upward force exerted by a fluid on an object immersed in it, which is equal to the weight of the displaced fluid.
Sphericity: The measure of roundness of a particle, important in the calculation of drag force and sedimentation rate.
Brownian motion: The random movement of particles suspended in a fluid due to collisions with solvent molecules, affecting their sedimentation rate.
Terminal velocity: This is the maximum velocity that a falling object can reach due to the drag force of the surrounding fluid. Stokes' law can be used to calculate the terminal velocity of a sphere falling through a fluid by accounting for the gravitational force acting on the sphere.
Sedimentation: When granular particles are allowed to settle in a fluid under the influence of gravity, Stokes' law can be used to calculate the settling velocity of individual particles or the average velocity of a collection of particles.
Motion of small particles: When small particles are suspended in a fluid, their motion can be described using Stokes' law. This has applications in fields such as colloid chemistry and the design of microfluidic devices.
Flow of viscous fluids: In situations where the fluid itself is highly viscous, such as in the flow of molten plastic or honey, Stokes' law can be used to calculate the pressure drop required to maintain a constant flow rate.
Microrheology: This is a technique used to measure the viscoelastic properties of complex fluids at small length scales. Stokes' law is a key tool for interpreting the motion of small particles within these fluids.