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General Science => General Science => Topic started by: neilep on 02/01/2006 15:34:27

Title: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 02/01/2006 15:34:27


Despite having fans on ALL the time, why does dust still accumulate on the front of the fan blades ?  and how does it get a grip  there ?

It's pushing air away !!

Answering this should be a breeze !!...please [:)]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: daveshorts on 02/01/2006 15:52:00
It may be a static thing - if the fan blades are the right plastic they will probably charge up rubbing againsta ll that air. So the dust sticks to it...

Kitchen fans get covered with grease so are sticky, and the dust proabbly sticks to that...
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 02/01/2006 16:07:29
DOH !!...Thanks Dave..the static explanation sounds obvious now. For the record the fans are bedroom fans , so there's no sticky grease from kitchen muck. Though, I have experienced a sticky fan blades like that...yucky !

Many Thanks

ps: Love the planet/gravity simulators on your web site.



Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: another_someone on 02/01/2006 16:39:58
quote:
Originally posted by neilep

DOH !!...Thanks Dave..the static explanation sounds obvious now. For the record the fans are bedroom fans , so there's no sticky grease from kitchen muck. Though, I have experienced a sticky fan blades like that...yucky !

Many Thanks




While perfectly plausible, I would proffer another suggestion – by no means mutually exclusive.

I suppose the question I would ask is whether the dust is an even layer (which, if static alone was the reason, one would expect to happen), or whether dust preferentially settled on certain areas of the fan.

One thing that would occur to me would be an analogy to the way rivers drop sediment around a bend?
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 02/01/2006 16:43:09
oooh !!...the dust has in fact settled on a certain areas of the fan...albeit the same distribution on each blade ie: it is NOT an even layer.

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 02/01/2006 17:28:41
Fans suck air from behind. Any dust in the air will be drawn across the blades and static seems an extremely plausible answer for why it sticks there
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: ukmicky on 02/01/2006 17:53:42
quote:
oooh !!...the dust has in fact settled on a certain areas of the fan...albeit the same distribution on each blade ie: it is NOT an even layer.


Neil its dust sticking to moisture

Moisture in the air would settle on the blades in the same quantities and places on each blade but the covering of moisture wouldn't be uniform over the entire blade as the forces near the centre are different to those at the edge
Michael


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Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 02/01/2006 18:18:45
Thanks all....can you tell me why the dust is just on the front of the blades ?

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: ukmicky on 02/01/2006 18:50:27
Neil if I’m right and its due to moisture

Then the answer to the second question could be that an effect of the fan blades moving  air would cause the front and back of the blades to be at different temperatures due to air friction .
The side doing the work would be hotter, allowing moisture to condense on one side and maybe not the other.

There would also be an air pressure difference between the front and back



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Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 02/01/2006 19:42:13
Due to the shape of the blades, you'll probably find that the pressure on the backs of them is lower than on the front
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: another_someone on 03/01/2006 01:08:14
quote:
Originally posted by DoctorBeaver

Due to the shape of the blades, you'll probably find that the pressure on the backs of them is lower than on the front



I would have thought the converse is true.

In order to push the air forward, it needs to create lift on the back of the blade, which means that pressure should be less on the back.

It would also mean that air would be travelling slower over the front of the blades than over the back of the blades.
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 03:01:45
quote:
   quote:Originally posted by DoctorBeaver

    Due to the shape of the blades, you'll probably find that the pressure on the backs of them is lower than on the front



I would have thought the converse is true.

In order to push the air forward, it needs to create lift on the back of the blade, which means that pressure should be less on the back


That appears to be exactly what I said
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 03:53:45
I thought so too. I didn't want to mention it because I know what it's like when you two start !! [;)]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: ukmicky on 03/01/2006 03:56:44
quote:
I thought so too. I didn't want to mention it because I know what it's like when you two start !!

Fight, Fight, Fight[:D]

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Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 04:01:34
quote:
Originally posted by ukmicky

Fight, Fight, Fight[:D]

Michael                 HAPPY NEW YEAR                     (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa186%2Fukmicky%2Fparty-smiley-012.gif&hash=844994fd61764508c533537d6874634d)





[:D]LOL !!![:D]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: another_someone on 03/01/2006 04:44:31
Mea Culpa – apologies – my brain was not in gear.
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 11:53:52
Hakuna matata, rafiki wangu
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 16:08:36
Ahhhh !!....*sigh*...see ?...another_someone  IS human after all !! [:)]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: another_someone on 03/01/2006 16:39:10
quote:
Originally posted by neilep

Ahhhh !!....*sigh*...see ?...another_someone  IS human after all !! [:)]

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!



But he can't speak Swahili – he had to do quite a bit of hunting around for a translation. [:)]
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 16:45:45
Siyo, mzee, nasema KiSwahili. Nimikaa na Uganda
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 16:50:57
I've even written poetry in KiSwahili:-

Nitakaa hapa hata kifu changu,
Kwa sababu ni ndiko kwangu,
Kile siku nitaisifu myungu.
Wanipa uwezo wangu.

Good, ain't it! [:D]
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 17:40:02
I haveo no ideao whato you meano !!



HA...try and understand that then ?

Actually...a tranlation would be nice of your poem !!

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 17:43:22
Translation:-

I will stay here all my life,
For this is indeed my home,
Every day I will praise the gods,
They give me my strength
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 17:46:23
Very Nice Eth !.....I like it.

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 03/01/2006 17:48:44
Thank you, dear boy
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: neilep on 03/01/2006 17:55:27
And with this thread
I am a lucky man
Cos I know now
The dust upon my fan.

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
Title: Re: Why and How is there dust on Fan Blades ?
Post by: another_someone on 03/01/2006 18:08:13
quote:
Originally posted by DoctorBeaver

Siyo, mzee, nasema KiSwahili. Nimikaa na Uganda



http://research.yale.edu/cgi-bin/swahili/main.cgi?right_frame_src=http%3A//research.yale.edu/swahili/serve_pages/questions/swahili_vs_kiswahili_en.php
quote:

We are often asked why we call our project "The Internet Living Swahili Dictionary," and not "The Internet Living Kiswahili Dictionary." The explanation is simple: "Swahili" is the English term for the Swahili language, while "Kiswahili" is the Swahili language term for the Swahili language. When writing in English, we use the word "Swahili," and when writing in Swahili, we use "Kiswahili." If you visit the version of this site written in the Swahili language, you will find that we use the term "Kiswahili" throughout.

This issue is not unique to discussions of Swahili. When we write in English, we speak of the Spanish language as "Spanish," the French language as "French," and the German language as "German," even though Spanish speakers speaking in their own language use the term "Español" (or "Castellano," in some cases), the French term for the French language is "Français," and the correct term for the German language when speaking in German is "Deutsch." Swahili speakers don't switch to Spanish when they talk about the Spanish language, and nor should they - the Swahili word for Spanish is "Kihispania," for French the term is "Kifaransa," and for German the term is "Kijerumani." When Swahili speakers talk about the English language while speaking Swahili, they use the term "Kiingereza."

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