College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
3A95.85 - Firehose Instability
See also 3A95.85 in Chaos and Rube Goldberg and 1N22.51 in Mechanics.
Attach the Tygon hose to the compressed air in the classroom. Hold it at least 18 inches away from the end and turn on the air full blast. The end of the hose will show a chaotic movement.
The paper sheet or flag, bell on the battery, Rayleigh-Taylor demo, and the edge tone demo are all examples of types of instabilities under the right conditions.
- Bill Franklin, "The Reaction Force on a Hose", Teaching About Impulse and Momentum, p. 3.12.
- Bill Franklin, "Hoses", Teaching About Impulse and Momentum, p. 2.10
- Julien Clinton Sprott, "2.25, Firehose Instability", Physics Demonstrations - A Sourcebook for Teachers of Physics, p. 131.
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