Friday is here, and with it comes "A Taste of Physics" — episode 6.
So what do we have this time?
A levitating apple that suddenly and inexplicably explodes.
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If you ask the physicist running the experiment, there's nothing surprising about it at all. That's also why he knew to put on a protective mask well in advance.
The experiment demonstrates two fascinating principles in physics. The first is what allows the apple to levitate, and the second is what causes it to explode.
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The first principle is called the **Coandă effect**.
Henri Coandă was a pilot who discovered in 1910 that the gases from his aircraft's jet engine tended to cling to the body of the plane — causing it to go into a dive.
He investigated and found that when a fluid flows near a curved surface, it adheres to that surface and follows it rather than continuing in a straight line.
The compressed airstream clings to the apple's curved surface in a circular pattern, spinning it faster and faster at ever-increasing speed.
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The second principle is the centrifugal force we all know and love — from merry-go-rounds at the playground to the centrifuges in Iran's nuclear facilities.
As the apple spins, the high rotational speed generates a centrifugal force directed outward from its center, which ultimately causes it to fly apart.
Video credit:
The Slow Mo Guys
#taste_of_physics #coanda_effect #centrifugal_force #fun_fact