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Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics, a free science course on Tomo

Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics

Like Duolingo, but for Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

24 levels across 4 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Forces of Motion, Rotation and Balance, The Vertical Dimension, and Global Patterns and Waves. It starts from scratch.

24 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Aero the Albatross, the guide who teaches the Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics course
Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics
with Aero the Albatross
24
Levels
4
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics

  • Air naturally flows from regions of higher density/pressure toward lower density/pressure
  • Pressure is the total weight of the air molecules stacked above you
  • The pressure gradient force acts as a 'push' toward the vacuum-like low
  • As you move higher in the atmosphere, there is less air left above to exert weight
  • Predicting the initial direction of air movement based on pressure differences
  • Understanding how air weight changes with altitude
  • A 'steep' gradient means pressure changes rapidly over a short distance
  • Air weight changes with altitude
  • The closer the lines (isobars), the more force is applied to the air
  • Isobars represent potential energy created by the uneven distribution of air mass
  • Relating the physical spacing of isobars to wind intensity
  • The atmosphere 'wants' to flatten these pressure differences to reach equilibrium
  • Predicting the initial direction of air movement
  • Without a difference in pressure, air remains stationary
  • The pressure gradient force is the 'trigger' for all global and local wind systems
  • Recognizing isobars as a map of potential energy
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Weight of the Sky

What actually creates the 'pressure' we feel from the atmosphere at the surface?

Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.

Course map

Where Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics takes you

Explore the mathematical forces that drive our weather, from the spin of the Earth to the complex equations of air in motion.

  1. 1

    The Forces of Motion

    • The Pressure Gradient Force
    • The Governing Equations of Air
  2. 2

    Rotation and Balance

    • The Coriolis Effect
    • Geostrophic Balance
  3. 3

    The Vertical Dimension

    • Hydrostatic Balance and Thickness
    • Buoyancy and Stability
  4. 4

    Global Patterns and Waves

    • Vorticity and Rossby Waves
    • The General Circulation

4 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Professor

Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics today.

Download Tomo, search Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics, and play your first lesson in under a minute.