Pillar of Fire, Flaming Vortex- Large Chair #2

This demonstration shows the Coriolis Effect.
I use a turntable, with a wire screen attached, and a metal pan to contain the flames. After the fire is lit and the screen is attached the chair is spun (simulating the Earth's rotation). The air inside the screen is trapped by the screen (simulating the atmosphere being held in by Earth's gravity). As the chair spins the air inside begin to move in a spiral pattern (in part due to the Coriolis Effect and in part due to convection currents causing the hot air to rise) which provides more air (specifially oxygen) to "fan/fuel" the fire. The flames then rise in a spiral/corkscrew/vortex.
In this case a desk chair that I have replaced the seat with a board. The apperatus is a few years old (and I had to repair it after doing this year's demonstrations). The flames don't get quite as high as they used to, mostly because the screen began to have weak spots and would bend when spun too fast. I have a better version (although the flames are smaller that uses a record player).

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Science & Technology

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