In: Mechanical Engineering
A spherical motile bacteria with a radius of 1.0 microns and a density approximately equal to water is swimming in water (temperature 20 C) at a speed of 8.0 microns per second. The bacteria suddenly stops swimming. Since the Reynolds number for a swimming bacteria is small, it should experience Stokes drag (F?D? = 6????Rv).
(a) How long (in seconds) does it take the bacteria to come to a “complete” stop? We’ll define a “complete” stop to be when the speed has dropped to 25.0 nanometers per second.
(b) How far (in meters) does the bacteria coast in this time?