Nicole Sharp<p><strong>Salt Affects Particle Spreading</strong></p> <p><a class="" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/salt_mp1.png" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></p> <p><a class="" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/salt_mp2-1.png" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></p> <p><a class="" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/salt_mp3-1.png" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></p> <p></p> <p>Microplastics are proliferating in our oceans (and everywhere else). This video takes a look at how salt and salinity gradients could affect the way plastics move. The researchers begin with a liquid bath sandwiched between a bed of magnets and electrodes. Using Lorentz forcing, they create an essentially 2D flow field that is ordered or chaotic, depending on the magnets’ configuration. Although it’s driven very differently, the flow field resembles the way the upper layer of the ocean moves and mixes. </p><p>The researchers then introduce colloids (particles that act as an analog for microplastics) and a bit of salt. Depending on the salinity gradient in the bath, the colloids can be attracted to one another or repelled. As the team shows, the resulting spread of colloids depends strongly on these salinity conditions, suggesting that microplastics, too, could see stronger dispersion or trapping depending on salinity changes. (Video and image credit: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2024.GFM.V2641007" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">M. Alipour et al.</a>)</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/2024gofm/" target="_blank">#2024gofm</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/electrohydrodynamics/" target="_blank">#electrohydrodynamics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/flow-visualization/" target="_blank">#flowVisualization</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/fluid-dynamics/" target="_blank">#fluidDynamics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/geophysics/" target="_blank">#geophysics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/magnetic-field/" target="_blank">#magneticField</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/physics/" target="_blank">#physics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/plastic-pollution/" target="_blank">#plasticPollution</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/science/" target="_blank">#science</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://fyfluiddynamics.com/tagged/turbulence/" target="_blank">#turbulence</a></p>