What effect occurs due to adjacent fluid layers gliding past each other without mixing?

The correct choice pertains to laminar flow, which is a fluid dynamics phenomenon that occurs when fluid layers move in parallel with minimal disruption or mixing between them. In laminar flow, the motion of the fluid is smooth and orderly, where adjacent layers glide over one another in an efficient manner, maintaining a consistent velocity profile.

This behavior is characterized by low fluid velocities and high viscosity, allowing layers to flow in parallel streams. Laminar flow is essential in applications such as blood flow in capillaries and the design of various engineering systems where reduced turbulence is advantageous.

The other options depict different fluid behaviors. Centrifugal force is related to the effect experienced by a rotating system, which doesn't describe the interaction of fluid layers. Phase cancellation generally refers to wave phenomena, where overlapping waves can diminish each other's amplitude, which is not relevant to fluid motion. Turbulent flow, in contrast to laminar flow, is chaotic and characterized by eddies and vortices, representing a state where fluid layers mix significantly with each other, thus not aligning with the definition of gliding layers.