A jet is a stream of

fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...

that is projected into a surrounding medium, usually from some kind of a

nozzle A nozzle is a device designed to control the direction or characteristics of a fluid flow (specially to increase velocity) as it exits (or enters) an enclosed chamber or pipe. A nozzle is often a pipe or tube of varying cross sectional area, a ...

, aperture or orifice. Jets can travel long distances without

dissipating In thermodynamics, dissipation is the result of an irreversible process that takes place in homogeneous thermodynamic systems. In a dissipative process, energy (internal, bulk flow kinetic, or system potential) transforms from an initial form to a ...

. Jet fluid has higher

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

compared to the surrounding fluid medium. In the case that the surrounding medium is assumed to be made up of the same fluid as the jet, and this fluid has a viscosity, the surrounding fluid is carried along with the jet in a process called entrainment. Some animals, notably

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, an ...

, move by jet propulsion, as do rocket engines and

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...

Applications

Liquid jets are used in many different areas. In everyday life, you can find them for instance coming from the water tap, the showerhead, and from spray cans. In agriculture, they play a role in irrigation and in the application of crop protection products. In the field of medicine, you can find liquid jets for example in injection procedures or

inhalers An inhaler (also known as a puffer, pump or allergy spray) is a medical device used for delivering medicines into the lungs through the work of a person's breathing. This allows medicines to be delivered to and absorbed in the lungs, which prov ...

. Industry uses liquid jets for waterjet cutting, for coating materials or in cooling towers. Atomized liquid jets are essential for the efficiency of internal combustion engines. But they also play a crucial role in research, for example in the study of

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

, phase transitions, extreme states of matter, laser plasmas, High harmonic generation, and also in particle physics experiments. Also some animals, notably

, move by jet propulsion. Gas jets are found in rocket engines and

s. Microscopic liquid jets have been studied for their potential application in noninvasive transdermal drug delivery.

References

* Pijush K. Kundu and Ira M. Cohen, "Fluid mechanics, Volume 10", Elsevier, Burlington, MA,USA (2008), * Fluid dynamics {{Fluiddynamics-stub

Applications

See also

References