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Fractal Gear - Fraktal Dişli Çark

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Tis the season

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Puzzle Box

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Frozen Excavator

Source: http://imgur.com/6uLGO

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The Magnus Effect

The tendency for an object to follow a curved path instead of a straight one is known as the magnus effect.

This is due to the generation of a side wards force on a spinning spherical or cylindrical object known as the Magnus force.

The mechanism.

The mechanism is rather a simple affair - As the rotating object moves through the air, it pushes the air on side of the ball whilst disturbing and slowing the flow on the other side down.

What this does is, it creates a pressure differential. Faster moving air exerts lesser pressure and slower moving turbulent air exerts a higher pressure. And as a result, the ball experiences a force ( known as the magnus force ).

This force vector points from the higher pressure region to the lower pressure one.

The Aerofoil similarity

If you think about it, it is the same principle as a lift in an aircraft. ( the difference off course lies in the fact that for the Magnus effect to take place, the object must spin )

More the pressure differential, more the lift.

Now an obvious question might strike your mind - What if the wings rotated? I present to you the Flettner Rotor Aircraft which whose wings rotate in order to generate lift.

But sadly, the drag that these things produced were also considerably high rendering them impractical! Ahh..

( If you are interested, check out the No sail boat that Flettner built that actually works and uses the magnus effect )

Magnus effect in sports

Magnus effect underlies various sporting action. For instance that spectacular Ronaldo’s free-kick was a consequence of the magnus effect.

Cricket - Spin Bowling.

Notice the change in direction of the ball during flight.

Tennis - The dreaded Topspin

The ball experiences a downward push as a result of magnus effect.

Baseball - A pitcher’s delight

This pitcher just knows how to rule the game.

You get the idea, right ? Basically, any sport that involves a rotating body, you are most likely to find the magnus effect coming into play.

Have fun exploring this effect in your own unique way and as always have a good one! Cheers!

Useful Links:

The magnus effect and the world cup football

How to make a cup that flies.

Flettner‘s No sail Rotor Ship

PC: Royal Institution, Cosmol

*** The phenomenon simplified for the sake of explanation. For those who are seeking out answers from a fluid mechanics and mathematical perspective ( boundary layers, flow stagnation,etc ) check out any standard Fluid mechanics Text.

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So, to achieve a truly transparent solar cell, the Michigan State team created this thing called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC), which employs organic salts to absorb wavelengths of light that are already invisible to the human eye. Steering clear of the fundamental challenges of creating a transparent photovoltaic cell allowed the researchers to harness the power of infrared and ultraviolet light.

The TLSC projects a luminescent glow that contains a converted wavelength of infrared light which is also invisible to the human eye. More traditional (non-transparent) photovoltaic solar cells frame the panel of the main material, and it is these solar cells that transform the concentrated infrared light into electricity.

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Change the world with engineering - cool stories this week (08.10.15)

Jet fuel: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/10/this-new-kind-of-molecule-stops-jet-fuel-from-exploding/ Holograms: http://www.lostateminor.com/2015/10/06/holograms-of-disabled-people-appear-when-you-try-to-park-in-disabled-parking-spots-in-russia/ Nuclear fusion: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy/news/nuclear-fusion-financially-viable-in-decades-claim-researchers/1021166.article Facebook: http://www.popsci.com/facebook-will-beam-internet-from-satellites-over-africa-in-2016 STEMoji: http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/stemheroes/ Dog: http://interestingengineering.com/brutus-amputee-rottweiler-adapts-new-prosthetic-legs/

Planet Facebook or planet Earth image courtesy of Paul G: Flickr | Creative Commons. Licence link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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Magdalena Jetelova - Domestication of a Pyramid, 1991

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If you don’t ask, you don’t get

"I hope to explain why asking for help is not only a good idea, but a brilliant way of exploring things that may not otherwise be offered to you."

- Bristol University student Brittany Harris is our engineering blogger this week. Find out how engineering has allowed her to travel across the world!

Read her post: bit.ly/1iHMVZz

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What have those genius engineers been doing this week?

Links

Bloodhound Sea robots Tsunami Brain power Self-parking cars Hinkley nuclear

Photo credits: -Bloodhound SSC | Stefan Marjoram -"Google self-driving car" - Smoothgroover 22: Flickr | Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) -Hinkley Point nuclear power station: Wikimedia Commons -Laboratory for Nanobioelectronics at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering -National Tsunami Warming Centre NOAA

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Have you heard about Tomorrow’s Engineers Week?

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2015 (#TEWeek15) runs from the 2nd - 6th November and we need your help to inspire the next generation of engineers.

Find out more about the campaign, and how you can get involved, on our site:

www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/teweek

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Engineers are creating the future. What are they doing this week?

Links:

State students University rankings Rib cage Smog jewellery Sleeping pods Smartwatch

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Sunset on Pluto

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The Lotus Building in China

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Engineering changes the world - weekly news, 11.09.15

Links: 

Whisky: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy/news/scottish-firm-wins-11m-grant-to-make-fuel-from-whisky-waste/1021015.article

Drone chariot: http://www.popsci.com/british-man-built-chariot-out-drones

Jurassic windfarm: http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2015/sep/navitus-bay.cfm

Short school days: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34183333

Graduate salaries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-34186954

Tube travelators: http://weburbanist.com/2015/09/08/tube-travelators-replacing-london-trains-with-moving-walkways/

Photo credit: Clock image: Ryan Hyde, Time Management Flickr | CC license

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The GIF above shows the LEAP jet engine on display at the Paris air show. The LEAP uses new technologies like 3-D printed parts and carbon fiber fan blades, which can help improve fuel efficiency by reducing the weight of the aircraft. Read more about the engine’s big splash at the Paris air show at GE Reports.