Discover: Air as a Fluid

We know that air is a gas and water is (usually) a liquid.  We do not usually think of them as similar.  After all, water is wet!  We are able to see it and touch it.  Air is invisible – we can feel it only when it is blown on to our skin.


However, both air and water belong to a group of substances we call fluids (which includes all liquids and gases). Fluids are grouped because they all behave in certain ways. 

A fluid is something that can flow or be poured.

  • A flow of water is called a stream.  
  • A flow of air is called an air stream. 

Think about that for a second.
 
Pixabay
 
In this activity, you will look closely at how air behaves as a fluid.


  Notebook: How does air behave like a fluid?

  1. Click here to download this activity. 
  2. Complete the activity using the links provided (in the activity and below)
  3. Save to your Flight Notebook. 

Activity Links:

  Check Your Answers

What was in the cups when they were first placed underwater? air
What happens when the cup full of water is tilted towards the cup full of air? The air gets "poured" from the full cup into the empty cup.
What happens when air comes in contact with an object? (For example a dog sniffs a vial of scent? Or, you blow dry your hair or your breath comes in contact with an icecream cone?) Air moves around the object. For example, the dog's breath goes around the vial. The air moves around your hair. Your breath goes around an ice cream cone. This is like water flowing around a boulder in a stream.

Air can be poured from one cup into another.

Air flows around an object.