Tornado
in a
Bottle
What You'll Need
​​
-
2 Bottles of Water (must be same size)
-
Food coloring
-
-â…› tsp Glitter (optional)
-
Tornado Tube
GRADE
4-6
TIME
5 min
Directions
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Remove the label on the bottle of water, and cut the ring underneath the screw cap. This will enable the tornado tube to fit on the bottle.
-
Empty one bottle until it is â…” full of water. If you are starting with an empty bottle, fill it â…” full with water.
-
Add a few drops of food coloring (do not add too much otherwise the twister will be harder to observe) and glitter, and shake until combined.
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Screw on the tornado tube.
-
Empty the second bottle of water.
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Attach the empty bottle to the top of the tornado tube. Screw until both bottles are tightly secured to avoid water spillage.
-
Flip the bottles upside down so that the filled bottle is on top.
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Holding the bottles with both hands, quickly move them in a circle (about 6 rotations) so that a twister begins to form.
-
Place the bottles on a hard surface, and watch the tornado magic.
10. To create another twister, repeat steps 6-8.
What
Happened?
By swirling the bottles in a circular motion, you created a vortex or whirlpool! This made the water spin super fast around an axis and drain out of the top bottle. As this happened, the water formed the tornado-like shape you observed. Tornados are destructive wind vortexes that act like super powerful vacuums. They can reach speeds of up to 250 miles per hour and travel over 50 miles—that’s approximately half the width of Tennessee!