HOME | CR4 | General | Roger's Equations

Roger's Equations

This blog is all about science and technology (with occasional math thrown in for fun). The goal of this blog is to try and pass on the sense of excitement and wonder I feel when I read about these topics. I hope you enjoy the posts.

Previous in Blog: Hoverboard Flight Record

Next in Blog: Virtual/Augmented Reality News

3 comments

Rating:

Comments: Nested

Cool YouTube Series: The Physics of Floating Screwdrivers

Posted May 26, 2015 1:55 PM by Bayes

The Floating Screwdriver Trick

A bunch of videos are making the rounds that show an air compressor being used to make a screwdriver float. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that should work since it appears so unstable, but I think if you check out the video below, you'll agree the explanation makes sense.

Explanation of the Floating Screwdriver

Thought it was pretty cool the lengths the guy went to to investigate it. I really appreciated the whole flow pattern setup he constructed. I think he's figured it out.

-R

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Join CR4, The Engineer's Place for News and Discussion!

Usbport Guru Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Trantor Posts: 5363 Good Answers: 646	#1 Re: Cool YouTube Series: The Physics of Floating Screwdrivers 05/26/2015 4:02 PM
	I saw a guy do this on a TV talk show (probably the Johnny Carson Show) sometime back in the early 1980s. The guy was an airplane inventor-type, and he was explaining Bernoulli's principle. __________________ Whiskey, women -- and astrophysics. Because sometimes a problem can't be solved with just whiskey and women.
	Reply

Rixter Guru Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: About 4000 miles from the center of the earth (+/-100 mi) Posts: 9048 Good Answers: 1031	#2 In reply to #1 Re: Cool YouTube Series: The Physics of Floating Screwdrivers 05/27/2015 7:36 AM
	Interesting. I've seen it done with a ball over a stream of air or water. It is surprising that an odd shaped object like a screwdriver can be floated on an air stream. I will try it next time I have my leaf blower out!
	Reply

James Stewart Guru Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Lubbock, Texas Posts: 14331 Good Answers: 161	#3 Re: Cool YouTube Series: The Physics of Floating Screwdrivers 05/28/2015 12:12 PM
	Kudos to the gent that produced the video, and the sharp study of air flow dynamics that revealed the basis. __________________ If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just build a better one.
	Reply