HERE'S HOW
1. Tape the washer to the top of either bottle, as shown. (Make sure the tape doesn't cover the hole in the washer.)
2. Fill that bottle three-fourths full of water.
3. Place the empty bottle upside down on top of the washer. Tape the bottles securely together.
4. Turn the bottles over so the one on top holds the water. Quickly swirl the bottles in a big circle several times and place the bottom bottle on a flat surface.
5. When you stop, the water should start swirling down in a tornado-shaped funnel.
WHY?
Have you ever seen a whirling funnel of water going down the drain of your bathtub? That whirlpool is called a water vortex. A vortex is a mass of fluid that moves in a circular motion to form a vacuum in its center. A vortex works with water much the same way a tornado works with air. A vacuum action tends to draw everything around a vortex toward its center.
INDOOR RAINBOW»
Illustration by David Bamundo
Text by Julie Vosburgh Agnone
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