Dimensional Analysis : The Great Principle of Similitude / Jeffrey H. Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Jeffrey H., author.

Contributor:

Institute of Physics (Great Britain), publisher.

Series:

IOP ebooks. 2021 collection.

IOP Ebooks Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Materials science.

Nuclear engineering.

Nuclear fuels.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (various pagings) : illustrations (some color).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Bristol [England] (Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol BS1 6HG, UK) : IOP Publishing, [2021]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.

Biography/History:

The author was born in Swansea, UK, in 1956. He attended the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and Cambridge University; being awarded a PhD in chemical physics from the University of Cambridge in 1981. Subsequently, his career as a research scientist was in the physical sciences. First, as a research scientist in the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Illinois, and subsequently as an experimental physicist at the Institute Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, which remains one of the world's leading centres for research involving neutrons.

Summary:

Dimensional analysis is a powerful method to analyse complex physical phenomena, including those for which we cannot pose, much less solve governing equations. Its use in science and engineering is ubiquitous and has been central to the work of greats such as Lord Rayleigh, Bohr and Einstein. It offers a method for reducing complex physical problems to their simplest forms and provides a powerful tool for checking whether or not equations are dimensionally consistent and suggests plausible equations when we know which quantities are involved.

Contents:

Dr. Jeffrey Huw Williams (1956-2021)

an appreciation xiii

Introduction : the language that is science xvii

1. The origin of units

1.1. The système internationale des unités (the SI)

2. A brief history of dimensional analysis : a holistic approach to physics

2.1. Homogeneity of units

2.2. Geometry of motion

2.3. Derived units

2.4. Fourier and the nature of physical quantities

2.5. Dimensional arguments

3. Introduction to dimensions

3.1. Dimensional formulae

3.2. Conversion from one system of units to another system of units

3.3. Dimensional homogeneity

3.4. Approaching dimensional analysis

4. Why, and how we play with variables

4.1. The de-dimensionalization of equations

4.2. Some of the more widely-used nondimensional groups

4.3. Some examples of straightforward dimensional analyses

5. The Buckingham [Pi]-theorem and its application

5.1. The Buckingham [Pi]-technique

5.2. Some examples of dimensional analysis involving the [Pi]-theorem

6. Scaling and similitude

6.1. Astronomy and the music of the spheres

6.2. Dimensional analysis of the pendulum : the first precision measuring device

6.3. Harmonic oscillations

7. Rules of thumb, intuitive planning and physical insight

7.1. Dimensional variables

7.2. Nondimensional variables

7.3. Eliminating a variable you suspect could be negligible : the design of golf-balls

7.4. The Rayleigh-Riabouchinsky Paradox

8. Continuum forces

8.1. The basic concepts of fluid mechanics

8.2. Drag forces

8.3. Bubbles in fizzy drinks

8.4. Magnetic-braking : the terminal velocity of a magnet falling in a tube of a non-magnetic metal

9. Why is the sky blue?

9.1. Quantifying light intensity : subjectively and in absolute terms

9.2. Polarizability

9.3. Rayleigh scattering

9.4. Collision-induced light scattering

10. The equilibrium between matter and energy

10.1. Black-body radiation and dimensional analysis

10.2. The displacement law of Wilhelm Wien

10.3. The cosmic microwave background

11. Dimensions involving molecules and fields

11.1. Polarization and magnetization

11.2. Electromagnetic fields

11.3. Dimensional homogeneity in electrostatics

11.4. Molecules and fields

11.5. Interacting magnetic dipoles, and the origin of radiation at 21 cm

11.6. Units and the SI

11.7. Final point : electro- and magneto-optics

12. The dynamics of atoms and molecules

12.1. Rutherford's model of the hydrogen atom

12.2. The earliest quantum view of the atom

12.3. Electric dipole transitions

12.4. Melting in organic solids

13. Modelling phenomena

13.1. Prototypes

13.2. Experimental design and interpretation

13.3. Dimensional analysis of a water sport

14. The great principle of similitude in biology and sport

14.1. Scaling of flight

14.2. Walking and running with dinosaurs

14.3. Constructing the best First-VIII

14.4. How much can you lift?

15. A miscellany of analyses by dimension

15.1. Dimensional analysis of cooking

15.2. Black holes

15.3. The Aeolian harp

15.4. The final frontier of dimensional analysis : the Drake equation.

Notes:

"Version: 202112"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on January 18, 2022).

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780750336543

0750336544

9780750336550

0750336552

OCLC:

1294830112