03 vortices

Question 1

what is a vortex?

Answer 1

a circulating mass of fluid flow

Question 2

what is vorticity?

Answer 2

= 𝜁 = the curl of the velocity field and is hence a measure of local rotation of a fluid element (vector quantity)

Question 3

difference between rotational and irrotational vortex flows

Answer 3

rotational has both associated velocity vectors and vorticity vectors (and tangential velocity is proportional to vortex radius)

irrotational has only an associated velocity vector and no vorticity vector (and tangential velocity is inversely proportional to vortex radius)