Tornado in a bottle..

Did you know?

(a) A strong Tornado can pick up a house and move it down a block!!

(b) 3 out of every 4 tornadoes in the world happen in the United States!!

(c)  Tornado winds are the fastest winds on Earth!!


Tornadoes are fascinating works of Mother Nature.   Usually when we talk about Tornadoes, they are caused by Wind.  For a Tornado to form, it needs just the right circumstances including warm air from one side and cool air from the other.  Other names for a Tornado include cyclone, twister...

Tornadoes that form on water bodies are called Water Spouts.  Waterspouts are spiraling funnel-shaped wind current, connecting to a large cloud (cumulus or cumulonimbus).

To see how they look, we dont need to wait for one to happen where we live.  We can create one easily at home.

Materials needed:
Two 2-liter bottles
duct tape
water

Fill one of the bottles with water (about 2/3rds of the bottle).  Place the other bottle nose to nose and tape both the noses together.  Be very generous with the amount of tape used as the tighter the tape can hold, less leakage of water and air and better tornadoes.

Turn the bottle with water upside down.  Swirl the bottle in a round motion causing the water to go in circular motion.  When the water moves fast enough, it pushes out against the bottle (while going down the hole), and leaves an open space in the middle.  The air in the lower bottle flows up through this open center up.  The spinning water holds a steady shape going around the sides. This funnel shape is a tornado in a very small scale.

If you look from above, you can see the hole in the middle where the air is coming up.

Have fun!!