Fluid Mechanics Area

A wire ring at the water surface holds a buoyant cork disc submerged below it, demonstrating that surface tension is a real mechanical force strong enough to overcome buoyancy.

A soap film stretched between two wire rings forms a catenoid -- a minimal surface whose shape results from surface tension minimizing the film's total area.

Water rises to different heights in a set of glass tubes with increasing diameters, directly showing the inverse relationship between capillary rise and tube radius.

Demonstrates that buoyancy arises from pressure differences, not from some inherent "lifting force" of water. A plate seals the bottom of a submerged hollow cylinder; it stays attached when only …

Connected tubes of different shapes (straight, zigzag, spiral, S-curve) all equilibrate to the same water level, showing that hydrostatic pressure depends only on vertical height, not path geometry.

Connected vessels of different shapes show that static fluid level depends only on depth, not container geometry. Demonstrates the hydrostatic paradox: containers with vastly different fluid masses exert the same …

A vertical cylinder with holes at different heights demonstrates that water pressure increases with depth. Students observe that the horizontal range of water jets increases for lower holes, providing visual …

Bernoulli's principle and the Coanda effect stabilize a beach ball in a leaf blower's airstream. Students predict which ball — light or weighted — remains stable at larger tilt angles, …

A jet of compressed air blown across a bench lifts a drooping sheet of paper, demonstrating Bernoulli's principle. Students observe the counterintuitive result that fast-moving air above the paper creates …