Bernoulli's Equation
Funnel demo + pipe flow lab. Builds on Hydrostatic Pressure & Pascal and Work & Kinetic Energy.
You hold a funnel upside-down — wide opening facing the floor — and place a ping-pong ball inside. Now you blow hard downward through the narrow stem at the top.
What happens when you let go of the ball?
The ball defies gravity and stays trapped! Air rushing through the narrow gap around the ball moves fast — creating low pressure. The higher-pressure air below pushes the ball up into the funnel, even though gravity is pulling it down.
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Hold the BLOW button to send air down through the stem. Watch the ball levitate — and see the force arrows showing WHY gravity loses. Release to watch it fall!
P + ½ρv² + ρgh = const
When velocity (v) goes up, pressure (P) must go down to keep the sum constant.
A wing turns the oncoming air downward. That deflection makes the air over the top move faster and at lower pressure — Bernoulli describes the pressure difference, but it's the downwash (Newton's third law) that makes it happen.
A spinning baseball creates faster airflow on one side, curving its path through the air.
A hose nozzle, a perfume atomizer, a carburetor: squeeze a moving fluid through a narrow throat and its pressure drops enough to suck a second fluid in.
Inverted airfoils push the car down onto the track — same physics, opposite direction.
“Faster flow, lower pressure. That's the heart of Bernoulli — and it's everywhere.”
Bernoulli Playground
Four interactive demos, one principle. Levitate a ball in a hair dryer, throw a curveball, fly a wing, and build a spray bottle — all powered by Bernoulli.
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Start with the Levitating Ball — tilt the dryer and watch the ball follow! Then try the Curveball — crank spin to max and watch it curve. On the Wing, push past 16° for stall. Finally, the Spray Bottle shows how every perfume atomizer works.
The same equation — P + ½ρv² = const — explains why balls float in air jets, baseballs curve, wings lift planes, and spray bottles work. Fast flow creates low pressure. Always.