20: Miscellaneous
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This chapter is a miscellany of diverse and unrelated topics – namely surface tension, shear modulus and viscosity – discussed only for the purpose of presenting a few more examples of elementary problems in mechanics. It is not intended in any way to substitute for a comprehensive course in any of the vast and interesting fields of surface chemistry, elasticity or hydrodynamics. All of these subjects have a huge and specialized literature, each worthy of a full-length course, and I am not remotely competent to offer one. Nevertheless, the few simple problems chosen in this chapter are suitable for a bit more practice in classical mechanics.
Thumbnail: Water striders stay atop the liquid because of surface tension. (CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikipedia).