Tests of Spheres with Reference to Reynolds Number, Turbulence, and Surface Roughness

The behavior of the Reynolds Number of the sphere is explained (in known manner) with the aid of the boundary-layer theory. Rear spindles may falsify, under certain conditions, the supercritical sphere drag, while suspension wires in the space behind the sphere leave no traceable influence. The critical Reynolds Number of the sphere was arrived at by an unconventional method; that is, by determining the critical wind speed at which the static pressure at the back of the sphere is the same as that of the undisturbed flow. The method makes it possible to interpret the critical Reynolds Number with only one test station.