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Swimming As Easy In Syrup As In Water

Posted by timothy on from the chlorine-ratio-adjustment dept.

chthonicdaemon writes "Nature is running a story about scientists at the University of Minnesota who proved that swimming speed is not a large function of the viscosity of the liquid. To do this, they thickened the water in a pool with guar gum. Fun ensued. This is the type of thing that usually keeps to thought experiments. Interesting to see someone prove it."

2 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. where are the photos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    any magazine/newpaper/website that publishes a story like this without photo's should have their ministry of information publishing permit revoked.

  2. Just to clear up some confusion by intx13 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The conclusion of the experiment was NOT that "viscosity has nothing to do with swimming speed" but rather that within a certain tolerance of viscosity, the human form performs equally well. This just means that for certain viscosities, humans are able to provide enough force by the swimming motion to propel themselves forward.

    TFA certainly does not say that viscosity doesn't matter. After all, we can't swim on concrete, nor through air, and common sense says that a bullet fired into mud will drastically slow down. The only point being made was that Newton was wrong and the swimming motion of humans compensates for various viscosities.

    It would be interesting to see the experiment performed with various swimming animals to compare the efficiency and adaptability of their swimming to ours.