A FRET acceptor receives the excited state energy. Its absorption must support FRET spectral overlap with the FRET donor. FRET sensitized emission requires a fluorescent FRET acceptor; measuring a shortened FRET donor lifetime does not.

A FRET donor supplies the initial excited state energy. Its fluorescence provides both an emission channel and a reference FRET donor lifetime when no FRET acceptor is present. Calling a label a FRET donor describes its role in a chosen pair, rather than a permanent classification of the molecule.

A wake is the disturbed fluid region trailing a body relative to the surrounding stream. It can contain a velocity deficit, rotation, shed vortices and mixing. Surface viscosity and flow separation help produce it, and its structure depends on geometry and Reynolds number.

In a steady towing experiment, the body's drag transfers momentum to the fluid. Comparing upstream and downstream momentum transport therefore provides a way to infer that force when the control-surface stresses and pressure terms are also accounted for. A visible dye streak only identifies part of this field; it does not by itself measure the entire momentum budget. A steady mean wake can coexist with unsteady vortex shedding, so instantaneous and averaged measurements reveal different features. Farther downstream, mixing spreads the disturbance and changes its width and peak deficit.

A plume is a localized buoyancy-driven flow generated by a source of heat or another density-changing substance. A plume can be laminar or turbulent; the transport regime is an additional condition.

A particle suspension is a dispersed population of solid particles carried by a fluid. Its dynamics couple particle transport, drag force, gravity, and the compensating motion of the carrier fluid.

Drag is the component of fluid force opposing an object's motion relative to the surrounding fluid. Surface pressure and viscous shear stress both contribute; their relative importance depends on shape and flow regime. A body can therefore experience drag even if most resistance comes from an uneven pressure field rather than direct tangential rubbing.

At low Reynolds number, the Stokes drag law gives $F=6\pi \mu aU$ for a sphere under its creeping-flow assumptions. In many inertial regimes, a useful representation is $F=C_D\rho A{U}^2/2$, with a measured or modeled drag coefficient $C_D$. That coefficient can vary with Reynolds number, surface condition and geometry. Towing a body while measuring force at several speeds tests which regime applies. The supplied towing power is $FU$ for steady motion along the drag direction.

Mass density is mass per unit volume, $\rho =m/V$ for a uniform sample, with SI units $\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$. For a nonuniform continuum, integrating the local field gives the total mass, $M={\int }_V\rho (\mathbf{x})dV$. The averaging volume must be specified when unresolved grains, pores or multiple phases are present.

For a fixed mass, expansion increases volume and lowers mass density. A material element obeying mass conservation satisfies $D\rho /Dt=-\rho \nabla \cdot \mathbf{v}$, linking that change to the velocity field. Density enters both weight and inertia, but it is different from number density and from relative density. Measuring a sample's mass and external volume can give a different value from measuring the density of its solid grains alone if the sample volume includes void space.

A buoyant plume is a localized rising or sinking flow driven by a density difference from its surroundings. Heating fluid can lower its mass density and produce upward buoyancy; a denser injected fluid can produce a descending counterpart. The sign of the density anomaly and the direction of gravity specify the motion being described.

As a plume travels, fluid entrainment incorporates ambient fluid, increasing its volume flux and diluting the source anomaly. A warm narrow stream can therefore carry a growing amount of air while its mean excess temperature decreases. The buoyancy flux has a different balance from the volume transport, especially when the ambient fluid is stratified or heat is lost. Dye or temperature measurements across successive heights reveal widening and dilution; their interpretation requires the cross-sectional velocity as well as anomaly size to determine a transported flux.

A fluid is a material that flows under sustained shear stress and cannot maintain a static shear stress in its fluid state. Liquids and gases are the usual examples. A Newtonian fluid has deviatoric stress proportional to its rate-of-strain tensor, whereas more general fluid constitutive equations can be nonlinear or have memory. In a porous medium, the fluid occupies connected voids within a load-bearing solid framework. The important distinction is the response to a continuing tangential force: an ordinary elastic solid can settle into a fixed deformation, while an ordinary fluid continues to deform. A fluid can nevertheless be at rest when no unbalanced shear stress drives it. ^[ref]

For a worked example, place a Newtonian fluid between parallel plates separated by $h=1\mathrm{mm}$, keep the lower plate fixed and move the upper one at $U=0.10\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. With no-slip boundary conditions, steady flow, no imposed pressure gradient and negligible edge effects, Couette flow has $u(y)=Uy/h$. For dynamic viscosity $\mu =0.001\mathrm{Pa}\mathrm{s}$, the shear stress magnitude isThe velocity gradient describes neighbouring layers sliding at different speeds. Doubling $U$ doubles the required shear stress; maintaining the same velocity keeps producing deformation, rather than fixing a final shape. This gives viscosity a concrete meaning: resistance to a rate of motion, not a prohibition on motion.

Physiological fluid dynamics studies the motion of fluids in biological systems, including blood flow in elastic arteries, flow through deformable vessels, and liquid layers lining airways. Wall compliance couples pressure to geometry, so wave propagation and mechanical feedback are as important as viscosity.

Hydraulic resistance relates the pressure drop across a resistive fluid element to its volumetric flow rate. In a linear model, $\Delta p=RQ$ with $R>0$, so dissipated mechanical power is $\Delta pQ=R{Q}^2$. A peripheral circulatory bed can be represented by such a resistance when its detailed dynamics are not retained. This terminal pressure-to-flow resistance differs from the area-dependent friction rate multiplying velocity in a distributed tube momentum equation.

Bulk viscosity is the dissipative response to a fluid's volume expansion or compression, distinct from the shear response. For a Newtonian isotropic fluid its isotropic dissipative stress includes ${\zeta }_B(\nabla \cdot \mathbf{v})I$, and nonnegative ${\zeta }_B$ gives nonnegative compression-related dissipation. A condensate's relative-density-flow bulk coefficient must be identified from its particular hydrodynamic equation; it is not automatically numerically identical to a dimensional Newtonian viscosity.

A uniform flow has the same velocity at every position. A constant velocity field has zero divergence and zero vorticity; a velocity potential is $\varphi (\mathbf{x})=\mathbf{U}\cdot \mathbf{x}$. It describes the remote ambient flow in idealized obstacle and line vortex problems.

An airfoil (British spelling: aerofoil) is the cross-sectional profile of a lifting surface, such as a wing or blade. Its chord is the straight segment from leading edge to trailing edge, with length $c$; its mean camber line runs midway between its upper and lower surfaces, and its thickness measures their separation. Camber is the departure of that mean line from the chord. The angle of attack describes the profile's orientation relative to the incoming flow. These independent choices let a designer alter the distribution of pressure, lift and drag, rather than simply enlarging the surface. ^[ref]

The distinction between an airfoil and a finite wing matters. A two-dimensional section model assumes no variation along span and predicts lift per unit span $L^{\prime }$. A wing of span $b$ has a spanwise distribution $L^{\prime }(z)$ and total lift $L={\int }_{-b/2}^{b/2}{L}^{\prime }(z)dz$. Its tip flow and trailing vortices generate a downward induced velocity, called downwash, which changes the local flow seen by the sections. Thus one cannot generally multiply the isolated two-dimensional $L^{\prime }$ by $b$. The wing aspect ratio $b^2/S$ measures its span relative to its reference area and helps characterize these three-dimensional effects. ^[ref]

For a thin section with small camber slopes and small angle of attack, thin airfoil theory predictswhere both angles are in radians and ${\alpha }_{L=0}$ is the zero-lift angle of attack. The model assumes two-dimensional, steady flow, incompressible flow, inviscid flow, an attached outer flow, and smooth departure at a sharp trailing edge (the Kutta condition). This last condition selects the circulation used by the Kutta–Joukowski theorem; with counterclockwise circulation $\Gamma$ positive and ${\mathbf{U}}_{\infty }=U_{\infty }{\mathbf{e}}_x$, that theorem gives $L^{\prime }=-{\rho }_{\infty }{U}_{\infty }\Gamma$ for positive lift towards $+{\mathbf{e}}_y$. The beauty is that a detailed velocity field collapses to a simple force law, while the geometry enters through ${\alpha }_{L=0}$. ^{[ref] [ref]}

A symmetric airfoil has ${\alpha }_{L=0}=0$ in this model: at $\alpha =4{}^{\circ }=\pi /45$ the predicted lift coefficient is $c_l\simeq 0.439$, and reversing $\alpha$ reverses lift. A stipulated cambered section with ${\alpha }_{L=0}=-2{}^{\circ }$ instead predicts $c_l\simeq 0.219$ at zero angle of attack. These are ideal calculations, not measurements or guarantees for a particular profile. Air parcels on the upper and lower surfaces have no obligation to arrive together at the trailing edge; the pressure and velocity field must satisfy the flow problem. A symmetric lifting section already makes an unequal-path-length explanation inadequate. ^[ref]

Real airfoils have a viscous boundary layer, even when inviscid flow approximates the outer motion. At sufficiently demanding incidence, flow separation can become extensive and the lift coefficient departs from its approximately linear law, reaches a maximum and may fall: this is aerodynamic stall. Lift does not generally vanish at aerodynamic stall. The onset depends on profile, Reynolds number, surface condition and motion history; $2\pi (\alpha -{\alpha }_{L=0})$ predicts neither a universal stall angle nor post-stall behavior. The pressure/balance experiment in lift makes this limit observable by measuring changes in the surface pressure distribution alongside the total force. ^[ref]

A wind tunnel produces controlled flow past a stationary test object. A typical arrangement uses a driving fan or pressure source, a flow-conditioning region, a test section and a downstream return or exhaust path. The stationary model makes repeated measurements of pressure, lift and drag easier while the incoming flow is controlled.

Matching a geometric shape alone does not guarantee similarity to the full-size flow. Reynolds number, Mach number, surface condition and incoming fluctuations can influence the result. The model can also block part of the test-section area, changing the flow being measured. An experiment therefore records upstream conditions and varies the relevant controls rather than treating one force reading as universal. A Pitot-static tube estimates local speed under its appropriate assumptions, while pressure ports and a force balance probe complementary aspects of the loading.

Ideal steady flow with incompressible flow, inviscid flow and irrotational flow can predict zero drag on a body that has nonzero drag in a real fluid. The zero-circulation cylinder pressure coefficient distribution gives an explicit cancellation example; viscosity and flow separation are absent from that model.

An instrument converting pressure or a pressure difference into a measurable signal. Its zero and scale must be checked separately, as illustrated by differential-pressure calibration.

An instrument for measuring pressure relative to another pressure. A liquid-column manometer uses hydrostatic pressure; a digital manometer uses a pressure transducer.

The appeal of a liquid-column manometer is that a pressure measurement becomes a visible length measurement: mass density and gravitational acceleration supply the conversion. It can compare two pressure tappings in a flowing fluid, even though the measuring liquid itself must settle into hydrostatic equilibrium. The reference connection determines which pressure difference is being measured.

The local fluid pressure, distinguished from dynamic pressure and stagnation pressure. "Static" does not require the fluid to be stationary.

Lift is the component of the fluid force perpendicular to the far-field flow relative to the body. It need not point vertically: a tilted flow changes the lift direction, and a banked wing can produce a sideways component. In a planar problem choose a unit vector ${\mathbf{e}}_D$ along the incoming relative velocity ${\mathbf{U}}_{\infty }$ and a perpendicular unit vector ${\mathbf{e}}_L$ pointing towards the chosen positive-lift side. ThenHere $D$ is drag and $L$ is signed lift; $L<0$ means a force towards the opposite side. In three dimensions the plane perpendicular to ${\mathbf{U}}_{\infty }$ also admits a separate side-force direction, so a lift axis must be specified. Lift is also distinct from buoyancy, which can exist without a relative flow. ^[ref]

The force comes from adding local surface tractions, rather than assigning a single pressure to each side. Let $\Sigma$ be the wetted body surface and $\mathbf{n}$ its unit normal vector pointing out of the body into the fluid. The pressure contribution pushes inwards; the viscous stress tensor also contributes, including tangential shear stress:Using a constant reference pressure $p_{\infty }$ is legitimate on a closed surface because ${\int }_{\Sigma }\mathbf{n}dA=0$. This surface integral makes the direction explicit: a surface-normal force is generally neither pure lift nor pure drag. Pressure and skin shear stress both enter the resultant, although the pressure term usually dominates lift on an airfoil. ^[ref]

The lift coefficient isolates a useful scale. For a finite wing of reference area $S$ (normally its projected planform area), and for a two-dimensional airfoil section of chord length $c$, respectively,Here $q_{\infty }$ is dynamic pressure, ${\rho }_{\infty }$ is far-field mass density, and $L^{\prime }$ is lift per unit span, with units $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$. The signs of $C_L$ and $c_l$ follow the chosen lift axis. For stipulated values ${\rho }_{\infty }=1.20\mathrm{kg}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$, $U_{\infty }=20\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, $S=0.50{\mathrm{m}}^2$ and $C_L=0.60$, $q_{\infty }=240\mathrm{Pa}$ and $L=72\mathrm{N}$. Doubling $U_{\infty }$ gives four times the lift only if $C_L$ stays fixed: changes in Reynolds number, Mach number, surface condition or angle of attack can change it. ^[ref]

A motivating experiment is to compare two independently observed quantities: the lift registered by a force balance, and the lift inferred from surface pressures. A low-speed wind tunnel holds the model fixed while air passes it at adjustable speed; a calibrated balance measures forces, while small flush holes on both surfaces connect by tubing to differential-pressure sensors referenced to $p_{\infty }$. Iowa State's GA(W)-1 teaching model has $43$ taps around a $101\mathrm{mm}$ chord; its instructions give their coordinates and close the contour by repeating the first tap. A classroom comparison can combine this pressure-panel method with a balance on the same model; this is an experiment design, not a claim that those instructions report a combined measurement. ^{[ref] [ref]}

Before turning on the wind, apply known positive and negative loads to the balance through its resolving centre; use $mg$ for the known load from a mass. Record all balance channels during loading and unloading, including response to drag and torque loads, to detect cross coupling, hysteresis and zero drift. Record a wind-off tare at each model orientation so its gravitational weight does not become an aerodynamic lift reading. Map tunnel flow direction and uniformity, rather than using the fan setting as a speed measurement. Covert's MIT guide describes these calibration, tare and flow-survey requirements. ^[ref]

For each pressure channel, apply zero and several known pressure differences spanning the expected range; determine the voltage-to-pressure relation and recheck it after a run. Inspect tubing for leaks and blocked taps, and wait for readings to settle before averaging: tubing can delay a pressure signal. This calibration principle is used in NASA's electronically scanned pressure systems, where several applied calibration pressures determine each sensor's response and repeated calibration tracks drift. A simple pressure standard can instead use a liquid-column height difference and the hydrostatic pressure law. ^[ref]

Measure far-field static and total pressure outside the model's fluid wake; in low-speed incompressible flow their difference gives $q_{\infty }$ by the Bernoulli equation, so $U_{\infty }=\sqrt{2q_{\infty }/{\rho }_{\infty }}$. Record temperature and ambient pressure to determine mass density using the ideal gas law. At fixed $q_{\infty }$, step the angle of attack, repeat selected settings, and sweep back down to check reproducibility. Record balance lift, each tap's mean pressure, and fluctuation sizes. NASA describes pressure probes connected to differential transducers and emphasizes recording their reference pressure. ^[ref]

Convert each tap to a pressure coefficient $C_{p,i}=(p_i-p_{\infty })/q_{\infty }$. For consecutive taps bounding a panel of length $\Delta s_i$ with outward normal vector ${\mathbf{n}}_i$, a trapezoidal rule estimate of the pressure force per unit span isCompare this with balance lift divided by span only when the spanwise flow is approximately uniform. Agreement tests the pressure-resultant picture; disagreement calls for checking unresolved leading-edge pressure variations, skin shear stress, support loads and three-dimensional end effects before rejecting it. A force balance senses the total load, while taps alone reconstruct the pressure part. Tunnel walls and model blockage alter the effective flow and require corrections; end plates or a model extending between walls approximate two-dimensional flow but do not guarantee it. Record the Reynolds number and Mach number with the result, and do not interpret tunnel lift coefficients as universal wing data. ^{[ref] [ref]}