Smoke Rings - Air Vortex Movements · Science in the City (2024)

Synopsis

A vortex ring is a circular shaped ring of spinning gasses that move together as a unit. A vortex ring can happen in liquid or gasses, but are rarely seen because they happen inside of liquids or gases. When a vortex ring happens inside of suspended particles—as in the smoke rings which are often produced by smoke they can be seen. Visible vortex rings can also be formed by the firing of certain artillery, in mushroom clouds, and in microbursts.[1][2]

A vortex ring usually tends to move in a direction that is perpendicular to the plane of the ring and such that the inner edge of the ring moves faster forward than the outer edge. Within a stationary body of fluid, a vortex ring can travel for relatively long distance, carrying the spinning fluid with it.

Smoke Rings - Air Vortex Movements · Science in the City (2024)

FAQs

Smoke Rings - Air Vortex Movements · Science in the City? ›

A vortex ring usually tends to move in a direction that is perpendicular to the plane of the ring and such that the inner edge of the ring moves faster forward than the outer edge.

What is the science behind blowing smoke rings? ›

The vortex ring inside the smoke is what gives the vapor its donut look. In essence, smoke rings are the result of the combination of friction in the air dragging the outside bounds back as the smoke moves forward and the existing air stirring the inside of the smoke.

What is the science behind vortex rings? ›

Vortex rings can be formed by ejecting fluid from a circular opening, such as when a smoke ring is formed. The boundary layer wall vorticity separates at the opening as a cylindrical shear layer that rolls up at its edge into a ring (Figure 10).

What is the science behind the air vortex? ›

When you let go, the air is quickly pushed towards the bottom of the cup. The air in the middle of the cup travels faster than the air near the outside of the cup. This produces a difference in air pressure which is why the air vortex is created.

What is the chemistry of the smoke ring? ›

The smoke ring involves the chemistry of nitric oxide from burning wood combining with myoglobin in meat to form nitrosyl hemochromogen, the same pigment found in cured meats. This is why you do not see this phenomenon in meats cooked in the oven since there is no source of nitric oxide in this environment.

What is the vortex ring theory? ›

The vortex theory of the atom was based on the observation that a stable vortex can be created in a fluid by making it into a ring with no ends. Such vortices could be sustained in the luminiferous aether, a hypothetical fluid thought at the time to pervade all of space.

What is the science of a vortex? ›

Summary. In the dynamics of fluid, a vortex is fluid that revolves around the axis line. This fluid might be curved or straight. Vortices form from stirred fluids: they might be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools, in the wake of a boat or the winds around a tornado or dust devil.

Is a smoke ring a vortex? ›

The smoke ring is another vortex, just like the one in the tornado tube, except this time it has been bent into a doughnut shape called a torus. The air on the outside is moving faster than the smoke, so holds it in the ring shape.

What causes smoke rings? ›

A smoke ring is a color change in the meat's myoglobin, the same protein that makes raw beef red. Myoglobin readily changes color, from the purplish red of freshly cut raw beef, to bright red when it binds with oxygen, to the brown color familiar to anyone who has cooked a well-done steak.

How does a smoke ring form? ›

What causes the smoke ring? Wood and charcoal give off many gasses when burned, including nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). These two gasses interact with a protein in meat called myoglobin to produce the pink color, not the visible smoke you see coming out of the smoker.

What is the ring theory in physics? ›

Ring theory studies the structure of rings, their representations, or, in different language, modules, special classes of rings (group rings, division rings, universal enveloping algebras), as well as an array of properties that proved to be of interest both within the theory itself and for its applications, such as ...

How does air move in a vortex? ›

Air in a vortex moves in an ascending spiral, from bottom to top; 3. The intensification of the vortex is accompanied by an acceleration of air rotation and a drop in pressure in the center; 4.

How does a vortex air work? ›

A vortex tube creates cold air and hot air by forcing compressed air through a generation chamber, which spins the air at a high rate of speed (1,000,000 rpm) into a vortex.

What is a vortex for kids? ›

: something that resembles a whirlpool. the hellish vortex of battle Time. 2. a. : a mass of fluid (such as a liquid) with a whirling or circular motion that tends to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle and to draw toward this cavity or vacuum bodies subject to its action.

What does it mean when a volcano is blowing smoke rings? ›

The rings, Behncke posted on X last year, “are produced by the explosion of gas bubbles within a narrow conduit, which shoots the gas at high speed toward the surface. Attrition along the conduit walls slows the movement of the gas jet, relative to the center of the conduit”.

Why do smoke rings spin? ›

A vortex is generated because the air exiting the container at the center of the hole is traveling faster than the air exiting around the edge of the hole. Bernoulli's principle states that the faster a flow of air is moving the lower its pressure.

How does the smoke mouth trick work? ›

After you have taken a deep breath of cold air, breathe out through your mouth. You will need to do this in a cold setting, so don't remove your face from the freezer. The combination of your warm breath on a cold surface or in a cold area is what causes the visible smoke.

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