Rotational and irrotational flow [Aerodynamics #7]

In this lecture, we discuss the concept of flow rotation, which is different from our normal point of view of looking at only the translation of a fluid element. The measure of flow rotation is vorticity, which we derive from scratch, and this is related to a useful tool called Circulation which we will use to estimate Lift later in the course. Then, we consider what happens if flow is Irrotational, meaning the vorticity is zero everywhere, and that lets us build a Potential Velocity (similar to the Stream Function from the last lecture). Free downloadable notes (PDF with white background) can be found at my website: