The magazine of the european research area European Commission Copenhagen, a missed chance?

    www.actoncopenhagen.

decc.gov.uk/en/ambition/

evidence/4-degrees-map/

(1)  See also the interview with Jean-Pascal 

van Ypersele in this issue.

© Shutt

erst

ock/L

oris

© A

ustrian I

nstitut

e of 

Technology/Roland Spielhof

er 

A road is soaked with water prior to a tyre performance test by the French 

Public Works Research Laboratory (LCPC) in Nantes.

© Shutt

erst

ock/L

ori Labr

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que

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IN BRIEF

42 research

*

eu No. 63 | APRIL 2010

TEACHING CORNER

    

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PUBLICATIONS

Home-made 

tornado

A

ll you need to create 

a mini-tornado in your 

kitchen is a saucepan full 

of boiling water, a stick of incense 

and a large sheet of plexiglass. 

First cut the plexiglass into four 

pieces to form a 1-metre high 

cuboid shape open at both the 

base and the top. Before assem-

bling the pieces, cut a slit roughly 

5 cm wide along the edge of the 

four panels on the right-hand side 

(see illustration). Then place the 

saucepan on a small burner, 

with the burning incense stick 

next to it. Cover the saucepan 

entirely with the cuboid and wait. 

After a while you will see a tornado 

form before your very eyes.

Magic? No, just physics! 

This apparatus re-creates condi-

tions found in nature that cause 

tornadoes. While the air temper-

ature just above the saucepan 

is close to 100°C, at the top 

of the cuboid it is only 30°C. 

The temperature variation 

between the different layers of 

air creates an Archimedes effect 

producing vertical acceleration 

of the water vapour. At the same 

time, this movement pulls in air 

through the four large slits, forcing 

the ascending vapour to rotate. 

The stick of incense releases dust 

onto which the water particles 

collect, making the phenomenon 

more visible.

Here on Earth, tornadoes 

occur in hot regions where the 

temperature difference between 

the ground and the upper layers 

of air is large enough to create 

a rising movement. The rotation