Grandpa Fenn's Workshop
The Siphon
The rain barrel is full and too heavy to lift. Grandpa has a long clear tube. He says the water will carry itself.
Grandpa Fenn's Workshop
The rain barrel is full and too heavy to lift. Grandpa has a long clear tube. He says the water will carry itself.
Fill the tube. Move the lower bucket up and down. Watch the water run, speed up, and stop.
The barrel drains into the garden pail without a single lift. Flicker drinks from the pail. Nobody minds.
Fill a tube with water and put one end in a full bucket. Put the other end lower, in an empty one. The water climbs up and over the rim all on its own.
Gravity pulls the water in the long, falling side. That pull drags the rest of the water along behind it. The tube stays full, so the water keeps coming.
It runs faster when the lower end is far down. It stops when the two water levels match. And if the top bucket runs dry, air slips in and the flow ends.
Toby watches the tubeA siphon moves water uphill over a rim, then down.
The lower end must be lower than the top water.
It stops when the levels match.
Big word for the day. Siphon. A tube that carries liquid up and over, then down.
More machines are waiting on the bench.
Back to the Chain Reaction Bench