The Taylor microscale is a length scale

Length scale

In physics, length scale is a particular length or distance determined with the precision of one order of magnitude. The concept of length scale is particularly important because physical phenomena of different length scales cannot affect each other and are said to decouple...

 used to characterize a turbulent

Turbulence

In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...

 fluid flow. The Taylor microscale is the largest length scale at which fluid viscosity

Viscosity

Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity...

 significantly affects the dynamics of turbulent eddies

Eddy (fluid dynamics)

In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...

 in the flow. This length scale is traditionally applied to turbulent flow which can be characterized by a Kolmogorov

Andrey Kolmogorov

Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov was a Soviet mathematician, preeminent in the 20th century, who advanced various scientific fields, among them probability theory, topology, intuitionistic logic, turbulence, classical mechanics and computational complexity.-Early life:Kolmogorov was born at Tambov...

 spectrum of velocity fluctuations. In such a flow, length scales which are larger than the Taylor microscale are not strongly affected by viscosity. These larger length scales in the flow are generally referred to as the inertial range. Below the Taylor microscale the turbulent motions are subject to strong viscous forces and kinetic energy

Kinetic energy

The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...

 is dissipated

Dissipation

In physics, dissipation embodies the concept of a dynamical system where important mechanical models, such as waves or oscillations, lose energy over time, typically from friction or turbulence. The lost energy converts into heat, which raises the temperature of the system. Such systems are called...

 into heat. These shorter length scale motions are generally termed the dissipation range.

Calculation of the Taylor microscale is not entirely straightforward, requiring formation of certain flow correlation function(s), then expanding in a Taylor series

Taylor series

In mathematics, a Taylor series is a representation of a function as an infinite sum of terms that are calculated from the values of the function's derivatives at a single point....

 and using the first non-zero term to characterize an osculating parabola. The Taylor microscale is closely related to the Kolmogorov microscales

Kolmogorov microscales

Kolmogorov microscales are the smallest scales in turbulent flow. They are defined bywhere \epsilon is the average rate of energy dissipation per unit mass, and \nu is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid....

. This microscale is named after Geoffrey Ingram Taylor

Geoffrey Ingram Taylor

Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor OM was a British physicist, mathematician and expert on fluid dynamics and wave theory. His biographer and one-time student, George Batchelor, described him as "one of the most notable scientists of this century".-Biography:Taylor was born in St. John's Wood, London...

.