Air and Water

by Denny, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780691025186
• ISBN10: 0691025185
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-09-01
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Addressing general readers and biologists, Mark Denny shows how the physics of fluids (in this case, air and water) influences the often fantastic ways in which life forms adapt themselves to their terrestrial or aquatic "media."

Table of Contents

List of Symbols and Subscripts	xiii
Preface	xvii
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	3	(2)
The Fluid Environment	5	(6)
Size	5	(1)
Temperature	6	(1)
Speed	6	(1)
History	7	(2)
Crossing the Boundary	9	(1)
Summary	10	(1)
Thoughts at the Beginning: Basic Principles	11	(12)
The Coordinate System	11	(1)
Dimensions and Units of Measure	11	(1)
The Measure of Motion	12	(2)
Newton's Laws of Motion	14	(2)
Pressure and Stress	16	(1)
Energy	16	(5)
Heat	18	(2)
Friction	20	(1)
Other Forms of Energy	20	(1)
Conservation of Energy	21	(1)
Power	21	(1)
Summary	22	(1)
Density: Weight, Pressure, and Fluid Dynamics	23	(35)
The Physics	24	(5)
Air	24	(2)
Water	26	(3)
The Density of Living Things	29	(1)
Buoyancy	30	(11)
The Maximum Height of a Column	33	(3)
Swim Bladders and Balloons	36	(5)
Fluid-Dynamic Forces	41	(2)
Drag	41	(1)
Lift	42	(1)
Acceleration Reaction	42	(1)
Density Effects in Locomotion	43	(9)
Propulsion by Lift and Drag	43	(2)
Jet Propulsion	45	(3)
The Cost of Locomotion	48	(4)
Fluid-Dynamic Limits to Size	52	(3)
Blood and Sap Pressures	55	(2)
Summary...	57	(1)
...and a Warning	57	(1)
Viscosity: How Fluid is the Fluid?	58	(26)
The Physics	58	(2)
Reynolds Number	60	(3)
Locomotion	63	(7)
The Mechanics of Flagellar Locomotion	65	(2)
The Final Result	67	(3)
Flow in Pipes	70	(8)
Flow in Xylem	72	(1)
Viscosity and the Circulatory System	73	(1)
Murray's Law	74	(2)
Rectangular Pipes	76	(2)
Flow in Porous Materials	78	(1)
Stefan Adhesion and Repulsion	79	(4)
Summary...	83	(1)
...and a Warning	83	(1)
Diffusion: Random Walks in Air and Water	84	(27)
The Physics	84	(4)
Molecular Velocity	84	(1)
Random Walks	85	(3)
The Diffusion Coefficient	88	(3)
Diffusion Coefficients in Air	89	(1)
Diffusion Coefficients in Water	89	(1)
Mean Free Path	90	(1)
The Sherwood Number	91	(1)
Fick's Equation	92	(2)
Deriving the Sherwood Number	94	(1)
Other Forms of Diffusion	95	(1)
Diffusion Velocity vs. the Speed of Locomotion	95	(1)
Diffusion and Metabolism	96	(4)
Metabolism in Air	98	(1)
Metabolism in Water	98	(2)
Following the Scent: Flux from a Sphere	100	(4)
Detection	101	(2)
Following the Gradient	103	(1)
Diffusion in Tubes	104	(5)
Insect Tracheae	104	(2)
Size Limits to Tracheae	106	(1)
Bird's Eggs	107	(2)
Measuring Diffusion Coefficients	109	(1)
Summary...	110	(1)
...and a Warning	110	(1)
Density and Viscosity Together: The Many Guises of Reynolds Number	111	(34)
Re Revisited	111	(1)
Terminal Velocity	112	(4)
The Descent of Man	112	(2)
Terminal Velocity at Low Reynolds Number	114	(1)
A General Expression	115	(1)
Why Are There So Few Aerial Plankton?	116	(6)
Turbulent Mixing	116	(1)
The Distribution of Plankton	117	(4)
Sinking and Reproduction	121	(1)
Limits to the Speed of Walking	122	(3)
Boundary Layers	125	(7)
Boundary-Layer Thickness	126	(3)
Hiding in the Boundary Layer	129	(1)
Listening to the Boundary Layer	130	(2)
Viscous Drag	132	(2)
Mass Transport	134	(4)
Smelling the Boundary Layer	138	(2)
Suspension Feeding	140	(3)
Summary...	143	(1)
...and a Warning	143	(2)
Thermal Properties: Body Temperatures in Air and Water	145	(29)
The Physics	145	(6)
Specific Heat Capacity	145	(1)
Thermal Conductivity	146	(1)
Diffusivity of Heat	147	(1)
The Prandtl and Lewis Numbers	148	(1)
The Grashof Number	149	(2)
Newton's Law of Cooling	151	(1)
Estimating hc	152	(3)
Conduction Alone	153	(1)
Free Convection	153	(1)
Forced Convection	154	(1)
Body Temperature	155	(10)
Temperature Set by Conduction Alone	157	(3)
Temperature Set by Free Convection	160	(2)
Temperature Set by Forced Convection	162	(3)
Of Shrews, Skunk Cabbage, and Dinosaurs	165	(3)
Keeping Warm	165	(3)
Keeping Cool	168	(1)
Thermal Cost of Respiration	168	(5)
Breathing Air	169	(1)
Breathing Water	170	(2)
Countercurrent Heat Exchange	172	(1)
Summary...	173	(1)
...and a Warning	173	(1)
Electrical Resistivity and the Sixth Sense	174	(16)
The Physics	174	(4)
Ohm's Law	174	(4)
Electrical Resistivity of Air and Water	178	(1)
Sensing Electrical Activity at a Distance	179	(4)
The Field	179	(1)
Power	180	(1)
The Detector	181	(2)
Directional Dependence	183	(1)
Electrical Detection in Water	184	(1)
Other Uses of an Electrical Sense	184	(1)
Summary...	185	(1)
...and a Warning	185	(1)
Appendix	186	(4)
Calculating the Field	186	(2)
Calculating the Resistance	188	(1)
The Field Revisited	189	(1)
Sound in Air and Water: Listening to the Environment	190	(31)
The Physics	190	(7)
Sound in Air and Water	197	(2)
The Information in Sound	199	(2)
Echoes	201	(3)
Attenuation of Sound	204	(1)
The Localization of Sound	204	(6)
Direction	205	(4)
Range	209	(1)
The Doppler Shift	210	(3)
Hearing	213	(6)
Summary...	219	(1)
...and a Warning	220	(1)
Light in Air and Water	221	(32)
The Physics	221	(9)
The Electromagnetic Spectrum	221	(2)
Scattering and Absorption	223	(3)
Attenuation	226	(1)
Why Is Light So Important?	226	(1)
Refraction	227	(2)
Reflection	229	(1)
The Optical Properties of Air and Water	230	(2)
Refractive Index	230	(2)
Absorption and Scattering by Air and Water	232	(1)
Consequences of Attenuation	232	(3)
Air	232	(1)
Water	233	(1)
Why Is the Sky So Blue?	234	(1)
Vision	235	(11)
Pinhole Optics	235	(1)
The Lens	236	(1)
The Eye	237	(3)
Eyes in Air and Water	240	(4)
Resolving Power	244	(2)
Refraction at the Water's Surface	246	(1)
Polarized Light	247	(3)
Polarization by the Sky	249	(1)
On Being Invisisble	250	(1)
Optical Esthetics	251	(1)
Summary...	251	(1)
...and a Warning	252	(1)
Surface Tension: the Energy of the Interface	253	(18)
The Physics	253	(5)
Surface Energy	253	(2)
Cohesion and Adhesion	255	(2)
Surface Tension	257	(1)
Capillarity	258	(8)
Water Transport in Trees	259	(2)
Insect Tracheae	261	(1)
Pressure in Spherical Bubbles	261	(2)
Cylindrical Bubbles	263	(3)
Gas Vesicles in Blue-Green Algae	266	(1)
Capillary Adhesion	266	(2)
Walking on Water	268	(2)
Summary...	270	(1)
...and a Warning	270	(1)
Surface Waves	271	(25)
Waves and Orbits	271	(1)
Streamlines	272	(1)
Bernoulli's Equation	273	(1)
Wave Celerity	274	(3)
Gravity Waves vs. Capillary Waves	277	(2)
Hull Speed	279	(3)
Wave Drag On Small Animals	282	(1)
Waves in Shallow Water	283	(3)
Breaking Waves	286	(1)
Transmission of Information	287	(1)
Group Velocity	288	(3)
Group Velocity---Capillary Waves	291	(1)
Group Velocity---A General Formula	292	(1)
Beneath the Surface	292	(1)
Waves and Swim Bladders	293	(2)
Summary...	295	(1)
...and a Warning	295	(1)
Evaporation: Drying Out and Keeping Cool	296	(19)
The Physics	296	(3)
Evaporation from Leaves	299	(4)
Drying Up	303	(2)
Diffusive Desiccation	303	(2)
Evaporative Cooling	305	(5)
Thermal Cost of Respiratory Evaporation	307	(1)
The Advantage of a Cold Nose	308	(1)
The Role of Convection	309	(1)
Ocean Surface Temperature	310	(3)
Summary...	313	(1)
...and a Warning	314	(1)
A Thought at the End	315	(2)
Literature Cited	317	(10)
Author Index	327	(3)
Subject Index	330