What is Stokes' law in fluid dynamics?

Stokes' law is a physical law that expresses the frictional or drag force exerted on small spherical objects moving through a viscous fluid. Derived by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851, it is obtained by solving the Stokes flow limit for small Reynolds numbers of the Navier-Stokes equations.

What we know

• Stokes' law gives the frictional or drag force exerted on spherical objects moving through a viscous fluid at very small Reynolds numbers. [1, 2]
• The law was derived by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851. [2]
• Stokes' law is derived by solving the Stokes flow limit for small Reynolds numbers of the Navier-Stokes equations. [2]

Where to go next

• whoWho was George Gabriel Stokes?
• how it workedWhat are the Navier-Stokes equations?
• the bigger pictureWhat is fluid dynamics?
• what followedHow does drag force work in physics?
• compared withWhat is the Reynolds number?
• an unexpected connectionHow do artificial intelligence agents relate to fluid dynamics equations?AI swarms have been used to attempt solutions for the longstanding Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem from which Stokes flow is derived.

Sources

• [1]Stokes' law (Wikidata Q824561) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Stokes's law · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Fluid mechanics · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Fluid dynamics · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness · CC BY-SA 4.0