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The Puzzle of Flutter and Tumble

Physicists reconsider the fall of leaves

Computer simulations and chaos theory come to the fore in attempts to explain the motions of falling leaves and paper sheets.

 

References:

Aref, H., and S.W. Jones. 1993. Chaotic motion of a solid through ideal fluid. Physics of Fluids A 5(December):3026.

Belmonte, A., H. Eisenberg, and E. Moses. 1998. From flutter to tumble: Inertial drag and froude similarity in falling paper. Physical Review Letters 81(July 13):345.

Field, S.B., et al. 1997. Chaotic dynamics of falling disks. Nature 388(July 17):252.

Mahadevan, L., H. Aref, and S.W. Jones. 1995. Comment on "Behavior of a falling paper." Physical Review Letters 75(Aug. 14):1420.

Mahadevan, L., W.S. Ryu, and A.D.T. Samuel. In press. Tumbling cards. Physics of Fluids A.

Tanabe, Y., and K. Kaneko. 1995. Tanabe and Kaneko reply. Physical Review Letters 75(Aug. 14):1421.

______. 1994. Behavior of a falling paper. Physical Review Letters 73(Sept. 5):1372.

Williams, M. 1998. As the leaf falls: A study of the deterministic motion of falling leaves. College of William and Mary Senior Research Final Presentations. April.

 

Further Readings:

Peterson, I. 1997. Exposing chaos in a falling disk’s flutter. Science News 152(July 19):37.

______. 1995. Cavities of chaos. Science News 147(April 29):264.

______. 1994. Catching the flutter of a falling leaf. Science News 146(Sept. 17):183.

Willmarth, W.W., N.E. Hawk, and R.L. Harvey. 1964. Steady and unsteady motions and wakes of freely falling disks. Physics of Fluids A 7(February):197.

Further information about the work of Franco Nori and his colleagues at the University of Michigan can be found at http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~nori/falling.html.

 

Sources:

Hassan Aref
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Urbana, IL 61801-2935

Andrew Belmonte
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Physics
University Park, PA 16802

Reggie Brown
College of William and Mary
Department of Applied Science
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187

Hagai Eisenberg
Weizmann Institute of Science
Department of Physics of Complex Systems
Rehobot 76100
Israel

Stuart B. Field
Colorado State University
Department of Physics
Fort Collins, CO 80523

Scott W. Jones
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Urbana, IL 61801-2935

Kunihiko Kaneko
University of Tokyo
Department of Pure and Applied Sciences
Komabs, Meguro-ku
Tokyo 153
Japan

Melody Klaus
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Department of Physics
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120

Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Division of Mechanics and Materials
Mechanical Engineering 1-310
Cambridge, MA 02139

Mitchell Moore
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Department of Physics
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120

Elisha Moses
Weizmann Institute of Science
Department of Physics of Complex Systems
Rehobot 76100
Israel

Franco Nori
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Department of Physics
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120

Yoshihiro Tanabe
University of Tokyo
Department of Pure and Applied Sciences
Komabs, Meguro-ku
Tokyo 153
Japan

Maura Williams
University of Maryland, College Park
Physics Department
College Park, MD 20742

William W. Willmarth
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Department of Aeronautical and Astronomical Engineering
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

From Science News, Vol. 154, No. 18, October 31, 1998, p. 285.
Copyright Ó 1998 by Science Service.

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