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turbulent flow
noun
: a fluid flow in which the velocity at a given point varies erratically in magnitude and direction compare laminar flow
Examples of turbulent flow in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Now, a new analysis by physicists based in China and France suggests the artist had a deep, intuitive understanding of the mathematical structure of turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
Batchelor’s scaling mathematically represents how small particles, such as drifting algae in the ocean or pieces of dust in the wind, are passively mixed around by turbulent flow.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 19 Sep. 2024
That is, some turbulent flows exhibit energy cascades, whereby large eddies transfer some of their energy to smaller eddies.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Sep. 2024
But the news is not all good: Odor plumes are almost always turbulent, and turbulent flow makes searching by gradient wildly inefficient.
—Dana MacKenzie, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2023
The strengthening fields, in turn, generated their own turbulent flow of stellar material.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2023
But their parents were looking even happier, running the intended science experiments with those toys and reading up on Bernoulli’s Principle, turbulent flow, and the like.
—Corey S Powell, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2011
But whereas the earlier team found Kolmogorov scaling—the subsonic turbulent flow underlying the convection currents in stars as well as Earth's atmosphere—the Australian duo found supersonic turbulence.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 30 Nov. 2021
Named after the 19th-century physicist Osborne Reynolds, the concept is especially useful for predicting when a fluid will transition to turbulent flow.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2020
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Word History
First Known Use
1895, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near turbulent flow
Cite this Entry
“Turbulent flow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turbulent%20flow. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
More from Merriam-Webster on turbulent flow
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about turbulent flow
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