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StupidLemonEater t1_j6dnrc0 wrote

A "fluid" is something that flows.

All liquids are fluids, not all fluids are liquids. Gasses are fluids too.

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pierrekrahn t1_j6eaq9h wrote

A crowd of people or a speech can both be fluid, for instance.

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scratch_post t1_j6eh4e7 wrote

Yup, any set of individual mass units can collectively flow. bucket of sand, people in the cities, cars in the streets. This is, afterall what is happening even with water.

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Bonneville865 t1_j6g4rxi wrote

That’s fluid as an adjective. OP was asking about fluid as a noun.

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tomalator t1_j6gkx3w wrote

All that's required is flow. A glacier is made out of ice, but it's still a fluid. Each individual in the crowd isn't a fluid, but the crowd itself is.

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SleepWouldBeNice t1_j6gcpvg wrote

Specifically, fluids are substances that cannot resist a shear force, which are gasses and most liquids.

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OkBottle8719 t1_j6gz9lp wrote

I'm a geologist and I'm delighted to tell you that solids are fluids too!

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Plasdfgjs t1_j6dw4ew wrote

That's admittedly a common misconception, but glass is an amorphous solid.

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