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Levitating a Ball on a Jet of Water (Hydrodynamic Levitation)

Can you actually balance a ball on top of a jet of water..? If the mass of the ball is small enough for the for the upward stream of water, then yes you can. Science behind this is called Hydro Dynamic Levitation. You can not only balance a ball, but also a disc on it's curved side. Amazed..? Let's discuss how it works.



When the water jet touches the side of the ball, it gives an upward force on the side of the ball there by initiating the spin. since the water sticks on to the spinning ball it gets thrown over to the other side of the ball. Thus the ball applies a force on to the water in an outward direction. Since the ball is in a constant spin, it maintains the angular momentum. The force opposing of water thrown over to the other side and the stickiness of water on the side of the ball lets the ball to achieve equilibrium and stay spinning.
Don't confuse this with Magnus or Conada effects. Because for the Magnus effect to occur, the ball must be spinning before it gets in contact with the fluid and for the Conada effect, because the Coanda effect relies on creating a region of low pressure. Since it is a narrow stream, there is no water surrounding the stream and the low pressure area doesn't come into the picture.

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