Does a fan translate a block of air from the fan to another location or away from the fan, or do the blades just set up a longitudinal vibration of air (as it rushes around from the front to the back of the blade as it passes), and the vibration proagates as an air compression....in the same way as if you "push" quickly on a streched slinky spring and the compression travels to the other end ...but the metal of the spring does not move. Similar also to waves on water where the actual water particles move in a circle and do not propagate with the wave itself.
If the fan does just create a vibration that moves the air at a distance but does not move air to the distant place, then why do smells travel with the wave (apparently blown by the fan) and does standing a block of ice in front of the fan move cold air from around the ice to another location...
2006-08-17
00:40:58
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5 answers
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asked by
Taoman
2
in
Physics