Fluid Mechanics

Building up from the continuum

This NPTEL course from IIT Kanpur opens with the continuum hypothesis and the stress tensor before any flow equations appear. That sequence gives the later mathematics a physical meaning, since each equation rests on an idea about how a fluid is treated as a continuous medium.

Kinematics, conservation and momentum

• Fluid statics and kinematics come first, setting up how velocity fields are described.
• Conservation of mass is developed in integral and differential forms, then the momentum theorem follows.
• The continuity and momentum equations are written in Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates.

The course closes with boundary conditions and flow between two parallel plates, which gives a concrete case to test the equations against.

Who it is for

Students who have seen the momentum equation only as a formula will find the derivation-first approach useful. Learners who want numerical methods or turbulence should look elsewhere, since the listing stays with the foundations.