ERIC Number: EJ980143
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jan
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Plastic Models Designed to Produce Large Height-to-Length Ratio Steady-State Planar and Axisymmetric (Radial) Viscous Liquid Laminar Flow Gravity Currents
Blanck, Harvey F.
Journal of Chemical Education, v89 n2 p234-238 Jan 2012
Naturally occurring gravity currents include events such as air flowing through an open front door, a volcanic eruption's pyroclastic flow down a mountainside, and the spread of the Bhopal disaster's methyl isocyanate gas. Gravity currents typically have a small height-to-distance ratio. Plastic models were designed and constructed with a restricted horizontal liquid flow using a series of connected cells that produced high viscosity laminar liquid flow planar and radial gravity currents. Because these gravity currents had a large height-to-distance ratio, they were easy to observe. Incremental transfer equations were used in spreadsheets to calculate the expected gravity current profiles. The calculated profiles were in good agreement with the liquid heights in the model's cells at steady state. The steady-state profile for the planar viscous laminar flow gravity current was an "x" axis parabola. (Contains 14 figures.)
Descriptors: Chemistry, Plastics, Models, Physics, Scientific Concepts, Spreadsheets, College Science, Science Instruction, Undergraduate Study
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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