Some examples of the bending of a plane elastic plate by transverse forces applied at isolated points are first considered. The plate is infinite and is bounded internally by a circular edge along which it is clamped; simple expressions are found for the displacement.

The analogous hydrodynamical problem is that of the steady flow of viscous incompressible liquid past a fixed circular cylinder; the equation for the stream function is in the same form as the equation for the displacement of a plate due to a distributed force of amount Z per unit area. The inertia terms in the hydrodynamical problem correspond to Z. In slow motion there is no stream function with the correct form at infinity, because in this case the inertia terms are ignored so that in the plate problem Z = 0. The effect of a transverse force system can be most simply illustrated by supposing that the forces are concentrated at isolated points; in the corresponding stream functions a simple form of allowance for inertia is therefore made, and they display some of the features of steady flow past a cylinder.