British scientists have figured out the best way to wash your hands by using computer simulations to analyze the process in which virus or bacterial particles fall off when you wash your hands. Although it has been more than 170 years since handwashing was introduced in public health policy, it is the first time that handwashing has been proven effective in preventing infection from the point of view of fluid physics.
A research team led by Paul Hammond, CEO of Hammond Consulting, a consulting firm in the field of applied repairs, used a mathematical model that analyzes the physical environment or situation through mathematics and found that to completely remove the virus from your hands, you had to wash your hands vigorously for more than 20 seconds. It was published on the 17th of ‘Fluid Physics’.
Hammond is a PhD in mathematical physics from the University of Cambridge, UK, and has served as the head of fluid mechanics research for more than 15 years at the Schlumberger Institute, the world’s largest oil development company. He assumed the two hands as a wall and made a mathematical physics model of the motion of water moving between them as a wave motion. Based on this, the kinetic energy of the particles was calculated at each point when the water wave motions.
As a result, the greater the kinetic energy of the water particles and the longer the duration, the more easily the virus attached to the hand was removed. In particular, the minimum time required for the virus to fall off was 20 seconds. This is consistent with the recommended handwashing times by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CEO Hammond said, “You have to wash your hands vigorously to increase the kinetic energy of the water particles. will,” he said.
This study is being conducted as one of the ‘Fluids and Viruses’ special research conducted by the American Physical Society for the purpose of preventing the spread and infection of viruses by analyzing the behavior of virus particles in fluid physics to respond to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). done.
Including this study, more than 100 articles have been published around the world so far. Researchers at Seoul National University also used the ‘Euler-Lagrange equation’ to track particle movement, and announced the analysis result that the distance should be maintained at least 20 cm, as saliva droplets can splash 20 to 25 cm when sneezing even while wearing a mask.
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