Vortex
Whirling water creates a tornado in a bottle.
Water forms a spiraling, funnel-shaped vortex as it drains from a 2-liter soda bottle. A
simple connector device allows the water to drain into a second bottle. The whole
assembly can then be inverted and the process repeated.
Two 2-liter soda bottles.
A Tornado Tube™ plastic connector (available from science museums, science
stores, novelty stores, and some scientific supply companies). Or you can make your own
using a washer with a 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) hole and electrical tape.
Optional: A small dropper bottle of food coloring and/or bits of paper.
(5 minutes or less with the Tornado Tube™; 15 minutes or less with the washer and
electrical tape)
Fill one of the soda bottles about two-thirds
full of water. For effect, you can add a little
food coloring or paper bits to the water.
Screw the bottles onto both ends of the
plastic connector. (CAUTION: Do not screw
the connector on too tightly!) Or tape the
bottles together with the washer between
them.
(15 minutes or more)
Place the two bottles on a table with the filled bottle on top. Watch the water slowly drip
down into the lower bottle as air simultaneously bubbles up into the top bottle. The flow
of water may come to a complete stop.
With the filled bottle on top, rapidly rotate the bottles in a circle a few times. Place the
assembly on a table. Observe the formation of a funnel-shaped vortex as the bottle drains.
Notice the shape of the vortex. Also, notice the flow of the water as it empties into the
lower bottle.
You can make the vortex with a single bottle by twirling the bottle and holding it over a
water basin or the ground to drain, but you lose the water and have to refill the bottle
each time you use it.
When the water is not rotating, surface tension creates a skinlike layer of water across the
small hole in the center of the connector.
If the top bottle is full, the water can push out a bulge in this surface to form a bulbous
drop, which then drips into the lower bottle. As water drops into the lower bottle, the
pressure in the lower bottle builds until air bubbles are forced into the upper bottle. The
pressure that the water exerts on the surface in the connector decreases as the water level
in the upper bottle drops. When the water level and pressure drop low enough, the water
surface can hold back the water and stop the flow completely.
If you spin the bottles around a few times, the water in the upper bottle starts rotating. As
the water drains into the lower bottle, a vortex forms. The water is pulled down and
forced toward the drain hole in the center by gravity. If we ignore the small friction
forces, the angular momentum of the water stays the same as it moves inward. This
means that the speed of the water around the center increases as it approaches the center
of the bottle. (This is the same reason that the speed of rotating ice skaters increases when
they pull in their arms.)
To make water move in a circle, forces called centripetal forces must act on the water.
These "center pulling" forces are provided by a combination of air pressure, water
pressure, and gravity.
You can tell where the centripetal forces are greater by looking at the slope of the water.
Where the water is steeper, such as at the bottom of the vortex, the centripetal force on
the water is greater. Water moving with higher speeds and in smaller radius curves
requires larger forces. The water at the bottom of the vortex is doing just this, and so the
wall of the vortex is steepest at the bottom. (Think about race cars: Racetracks have
steeper banks on high-speed, sharp corners to hold the cars in their circular paths around
the track.)
The hole in the vortex allows air from the lower bottle to flow easily into the upper bottle.
This enables the upper bottle to drain smoothly and completely.
Vortices occur in nature in many forms: Tornadoes, whirlpools, weather systems,
galaxies, etc.
The essence of a vortex is that objects are drawn together toward the center, then miss!
Spiral waves form in the water surface of the vortex. These waves appear to move in
slow motion as they travel upward through the downward flowing water.
The Exploratorium's Vortex exhibit was created by artist Douglas Hollis. Related Snacks
are Momentum Machine and Spinning Blackboard.