Experiments

• AG - astrophysics and geophysics
• BK - biophysics and complex systems
• FM - solid state physics and physics of materials
• KT - nuclear physics and particle physics

AG - astrophysics and geophysics

• AG.CCD - Astronomical CCD Calibrations and Observations
• AG.DEN - The Curious Case of Dark Energy
• AG.DMH - Numerical Analysis and Data Visualisation for Dark Matter Halos
• AG.GMC - Gravity-Media Correspondence
• AG.MWH - The Microwave Sky
• AG.RBK - Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
• AG.VOB - Virtual Observatory

AG.RBK - Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

Thermal convection is an important driving mechanism for geophysically relevant flows in the atmosphere, the oceans, the Earth's Earth's mantle, the Earth's core, and on other planets and stars. In this some basic properties of convection will be investigated. are investigated. A cube filled with water is heated from below and cooled from above. The convection motion is then characterized optically and with local local temperature probes. A numerical simulation accompanies the experiment. Results of the experiment are the qualitative shape of the motion, the formation of boundary layers, temperature and velocity profiles, as well as spectra and probability distributions of the of the temperature.