Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
Fluid Dynamics 1B


Lecturer: Dr Natalia Berloff
Office: CMS G1.02
E-mail: N.G.Berloff@damtp.cam.ac.uk
Lecture: Mill Lane Lecture Room 3, Wed.,F. 12
Class web page: www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/ngb23/FD/

Fluid dynamics investigates the flow of liquids and gases. Non-sticky fluids are the subject of this course, for which the basic equation is the Euler equation, which repesents the law expressing `force equals rate of change of momentum'. A subtlety arises because the rate of change here applies to that following fluid particles, not at a fixed point in space. It is necessary to use the convective derivative: a time derivative following the fluid. The forces driving the motion can be external, such as gravity, or internal, arising from pressure. The fluid motion is often incompressible and irrotational, in which case the flow can be expressed in terms of potentials and the motion is governed by Laplace's equation. The suitations investigated in this course include simple flows in channels, jets, sources and sinks, bubbles, waves and aircraft wings. Suitable introductory reading material can be found in Lighthill's "An Informal Introduction to Theoretical Fluid Mechanics" (Oxford) or Acheson's "Elementary Fluid Dynamics" (Oxford).

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you should:


  • understand the basic principles governing the dynamics of non-viscous fluids;
  • be able to derive and deduce the consequences of the equation of conservation of mass;
  • be able solve kinematics problems such as finding particle paths and streamlines;
  • be able to apply Bernoulli's theorem and the momentum integral to simple problems including river flows;
  • understand the concept of vorticity and the conditions in which it may be assumed to be zero;
  • calculate velocity fields and forces on bodies for simple steady and unsteady flows derived from potentials;
  • understand the theory of surface and interfacial waves and be able to use it to investigate, for example, standing waves in a container.

Professor McIntyre's Lecture Notes

The best and the most complete set of notes for the course! Many of the class handouts (working sheets) below are based on them, so if some parts of your notes are unreadable, please consult these notes.

Class Handouts


The instructor is indebted to Professors Hinch, Lister, Huppert, and McIntyre for sharing their course materials with her. The class handouts are mostly based on the TeX files kindly provided by Professor McIntyre and Dr Lister.

Example Sheets

Some interesting (and educational) links

History of Fluid Mechanics

Online Journals


Societies