#Scienceforkids- “Tornado in a Jar”- A fun weather science experiment for kids!

December 11, 2019 /

This week we are excited to share again a “Weather science experiment”, named “Tornado in a Jar”. Hoping you all would like it.

Personally, we like “Weather science experiments” so much. These experiments are not only fun to do but they also provides an excellent opportunity to learn about different environmental phenomenon as well.

“Tornados” are one of the most exciting natural phenomenon and kids usually have a natural curiosity about how it forms? With this experiment we can explain them the exact science behind it. And I am sure they will have loads of fun too, while doing this.

Overview

As the name suggested “Tornado in a bottle” is an exciting science experiment where we create vortex inside a bottle by using simple and available at home supplies. Spinning of the jar or bottle is one of the most important step that helps in creating vortex inside the bottle that looks like real tornado.

What will you need?

You will need:

Any kind of jar or bottle ( pickle jar, mason jar or routine plastic bottle) anything work great.
dish washing liquid (1 TSP)
Water
Vinegar ( 1 TSP)
Food dye or color ( optional)
Glitter, beads ( optional, you may add this for extra fun)
Spoon or knife for mixing.

Method

First talk about tornado formation to your kids. Ask them few questions about it, to raise the curiosity about the experiment.
Now, gather all the supplies for easy conduction of experiment.
Then, take bottle or jar and fill this with water, leave upper most part empty to see the Tornado formation clearly.
Now, add 1 TSP dishwashing liquid in it.
You may add food dye, glitter or beads at this stage for adding extra fun to this experiment.
Next step, is most important step of this experiment and you may need to do a little practice of it before conducting proper experiment and that is “Spinning of bottle”. Proper spin is very important to create vortex inside the bottle that looks like a tornado.
Now, start spinning bottle or jar for few minute and wait for a moment.
After stopping the spin moment, look carefully inside the jar or bottle.
You will see that even after stopping the spinning, the water inside the jar is still rotating and creating a vortex inside it that looks like a “Tornado”
In environment, air is the medium in which Tornado is form, while in this, we had used water as a medium to create the same swirly moment to form Tornado.
Sometimes, mixing of dishwashing liquid may cause too much bubbles inside the bottle and you may find it hard to see vortex formation. to solve this problem, you can add 1 tsp of vinegar to water and mixed it with spoon. This step helps in clear visibility of vortex formation inside the bottle.
we had done this experiment with a wide jar too, and without the dish washing liquid and got better result, would suggest to do this a wide mouth jar for better result.

Science behind this experiment

Now, it’s time to understand the cactus science behind this experiment.

“Vortex formation” is real reason behind this phenomenon. The swirly winds of tornado is called “Vortex”.

Vortex is a type of motion that causes both liquid and gas to travel spirally, around in centerline.

In this experiment, swirly the water inside the bottle causes vortex formation that looks like a tornado. The water is continues spinning around the center of vortex because of centripetal force.

So, with this little effort we can teach our kids the complex phenomenon of “Vortex formation” easily and in fun manner.

Additionally, you can learn and read more about the “Real Tornado”, after doing this experiment.

My girls had loads of fun and lots of learning while doing this.

Sorry this week no video due to over busy schedule. will do it next week for sure, so stay tuned!

If you had missed previous posts of this series, click here for

Potato and straw science experiment

Magic leak proof bag

Cloud in a jar

https://surbhiprapanna.com/2019/11/19/scienceforkids-childrensday-blog-train-how-to-make-an-invisible-link-an-exciting-science-experiment-for-curious-kids/

https://surbhiprapanna.com/2019/12/05/scienceforkids-lemon-volcano-an-easy-experiment-especially-for-little-kids/

Did you like this experiment? please share your thoughts in comment box.