The physics of human sperm vs. the physics of the sperm whale
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Traveling is extremely arduous for microscopic sperm -- think of a human trying to swim in a pool made of...other humans. We can compare the journey of a sperm to that of a sperm whale by calculating the Reynolds number, a prediction of how fluid will behave, often fluctuating due to size of the swimmer. Aatish Bhatia explores the great (albeit tiny) sperm’s journey.
If a human swimmer were to somehow shrink down to the size of a microbe, what difficulties would they face in getting around? What strategies could this tiny swimmer adopt to swim more effectively?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Aatish Bhatia
- Animator Brad Purnell
- Narrator Addison Anderson
