Continuum Physics How distinct is fluid dynamics from continuum physics? I've heard it is a subset and by the definition of the subject's name, it seems likely to be the case. Can anyone please clarify?
 A: Continuum physics, or more specifically continuum mechanics is paradigm that seeks to describe the bulk properties of a system by treating it as a continuum.  This can include fluids and bulk deformation and vibrations in solids.  One could argue that the liquid drop model of the nucleus was an example of continuum physics.  From a fundamental perspective, before we understood the structure of the atom, continuum mechanics could have been seen as "fundamental" in the sense that the continuum equations defined the irreducible characteristics of a system.  We even has the pudding+raisin model of matter before the Rutherford scattering experiment illuminated the internal structure of matter.  Now we still use continuum models as a modeling, or computational, and theoretical tool for describing bulk properties of matter.  A continuum model can be developed from first principles using a discrete N-body system and taking the limit as N-->infinity while other properties go to zero.  Or it can be hypothesized to have certain properties based on observational evidence.  A good book on continuum methods is Classical Field Theory by Davison Soper.       
