n physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms (flows) under an applied shear stress,
or external force. Fluids are a phase of matter and include liquids, gases and plasmas. They
are substances with zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, substances which cannot resist
any shear force applied to them.
Although the term "fluid" includes both the liquid and gas phases, in common usage, "fluid" is
often used as a synonym for "liquid", with no implication that gas could also be present. This
colloquial usage of the term is also common in medicine and in nutrition ("take plenty of fluids").
Liquids form a free surface (that is, a surface not created by the container) while gases do
not. Viscoelastic fluids like Silly Putty appear to behave similar to a solid when a sudden force is
applied. Also substances with a very high viscosity such as pitch appear to behave like a solid
(see pitch drop experiment).
Contents
1Physics
2Modelling
3See also
4References
Physics[edit]
Fluids display properties such as:
not resisting permanent deformation, resisting only relative rates of deformation in a
dissipative, frictional manner, and
the ability to flow (also described as the ability to take on the shape of the container).
These properties are typically a function of their inability to support a shear stress in
static equilibrium. In contrast, solids respond to shear either with a spring-like restoring force,
which means that deformations are reversible, or they require a certain initial stress before they
deform (see plasticity).
Solids respond with restoring forces to both shear stresses, and to normal stresses—
both compressive and tensile. In contrast, ideal fluids only respond with restoring forces to normal
stresses, called pressure: fluids can be subjected to both compressive stress, corresponding to
positive pressure, and to tensile stress, corresponding to negative pressure. Both solids and
liquids also have tensile strengths, which when exceeded in solids makes irreversible
deformation and fracture, and in liquids causes the onset of cavitation.
Both solids and liquids have free surfaces, which cost some amount of free energy to form. In the
case of solids, the amount of free energy to form a given unit of surface area is called surface
energy, whereas for liquids the same quantity is called surface tension. The ability of liquids to
flow results in different behaviour in response to surface tension than in solids, although in
equilibrium both will try to minimise their surface energy: liquids tend to form rounded droplets,
whereas pure solids tend to form crystals. Gases do not have free surfaces, and freely diffuse.
Modelling[edit]
Main article: Fluid mechanics
In a solid, shear stress is a function of strain, but in a fluid, shear stress is a function of strain rate.
A consequence of this behavior is Pascal's law which describes the role of pressure in
characterizing a fluid's state.
Depending on the relationship between shear stress, and the rate of strain and its derivatives,
fluids can be characterized as one of the following:
Newtonian fluids: where stress is directly proportional to rate of strain
Non-Newtonian fluids: where stress is not proportional to rate of strain, its higher powers and
derivatives.
The behavior of fluids can be described by the Navier–Stokes equations—a set of partial
differential equations which are based on:
continuity (conservation of mass),
conservation of linear momentum,
conservation of angular momentum,
conservation of energy.
The study of fluids is fluid mechanics, which is subdivided into fluid dynamics and fluid
statics depending on whether the fluid is in motion.
See also
