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Kelvin–Helmholtz instability

fluid instability that occurs when there is velocity shear in a single continuous fluid or a velocity difference across the interface between two fluids
Thing Hydrodynamic Stability Q1571116

Facts

4 properties
Instance of
hydrodynamic stability, scientific theory[2]
Different from
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism[5]
Maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Fluid dynamics[6]
Named after
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Hermann von Helmholtz[3][4]
🏷️ Also known as
en Kelvin–Helmholtz instability en Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability en KH instability cs Kelvinova-Helmholtzova nestabilita de Kelvin-Helmholtz-Instabilität es Inestabilidad Kelvin Helmholtz es Cirrus Kelvin Helmholtz es Cirrus Kelvin-Helmholtz es Inestabilidad Kelvin-Helmholtz fa ناپایداری کلوین–هلمهولتز fr Instabilité de Kelvin-Helmholtz fr Lames de Kelvin-Helmholtz fr Onde de Kelvin-Helmholtz hu Kelvin–Helmholtz-instabilitás it Instabilità di Kelvin - Helmholtz it Instabilità di Kelvin-Helmholtz ja KH不安定 ja KH不安定性 ja ケルビン・ヘルムホルツ不安定 ja ケルビン・ヘルムホルツ不安定性
🔖 Identifiers · 7
GND ID
4264089-1
Image (Wikimedia Commons)
Deep Oceanic Kelvin-Helmholtz billows.jpg ↗
Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) ID (2026)
tNLiH, eiMC2, oGrk
Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) old ID (2021)
500k (147k–500k, n=3)
Freebase ID
/m/02qwgx
ScienceDirect topic ID
earth-and-planetary-sciences/kelvin-helmholtz-instability, physics-and-astronomy/kelvin-helmholtz-instability, engineering/kelvin-helmholtz-instability
World of Physics ID
Kelvin-HelmholtzInstability

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🔗 Connections
Instance of 2
scientific theory, hydrodynamic stability
Named after 2
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Hermann von Helmholtz
Created notable works 1
Hermann von Helmholtz
Different from 1
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
← Different from 1
Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
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Summary

Kelvin–Helmholtz instability is a hydrodynamic stability[1].

Related Entities

Hermann von Helmholtz William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Retrieved November 12, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/kelvin-helmholtz-instability
MLA “Kelvin–Helmholtz instability.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 12 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/kelvin-helmholtz-instability.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_kelvin-helmholtz-instability_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Kelvin–Helmholtz instability}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/kelvin-helmholtz-instability}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-12}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Kelvin–Helmholtz instability — https://4ort.xyz/entity/kelvin-helmholtz-instability (retrieved 2026-11-12)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 18w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) ID (2026) → tNLiH, eiMC2, oGrk
    Instance of → hydrodynamic stability, scientific theory
    Named after → William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Hermann von Helmholtz
    Different from → Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism
    + 1 other property edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "Changed the item: QuickStatements 3.0 batch #40849: ZGBK ID"
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