Tornado in a Bottle Experiment
by Science Explorers | Apr 5, 2018 | Blog | 0 comments
Tornadoes are violent winds that create a funnel underneath a storm system. As the winds rotate, they often pick up speed, and eventually, they form what is called a funnel cloud — a column of water droplets, dust and other debris with a tapered shape extending from the base of a thunderstorm.
This is a pretty weighty concept to explain to kids, though. It’s much easier to simply let kids observe a tornado, seeing how the winds move and what happens when it starts to die down.
Of course, it’s not safe to take your kids to see a real tornado, so how about the next-best thing? Make a tornado in a bottle. This experiment allows children to mimic the patterns of this weather occurrence without facing any of the dangers a real tornado brings.
Materials for Tornado in a Bottle
To perform this experiment, you will need:
- A plastic or glass bottle with a narrow top and a cap, such as a clean soda or iced tea bottle
How to Perform the Tornado in a Bottle Experiment
Add water to the bottle until it is filled up to about two inches from the top. Add two squirts of dish soap. Finish it off with a pinch of glitter. Screw the top back onto the bottle.
Turn the bottle upside down. Grasping it by the neck, twirl it in a circular pattern as fast as you can. Stop after about 20 seconds and hold the bottle. You will see a swirling funnel of glitter that looks like a tornado. Have your child watch as it continues to spin in the direction you were moving the bottle.
It may take a couple of tries to get the tornado to function correctly. Once it does, explain to your child why this is happening to help them understand the forces at play with a real tornado.
What Makes the Water Spin?
The water in the bottle is responding to centripetal force, a force that acts on a body moving in a circular motion. The motion is directed toward the center, which is also referred to as the vortex. This is what catches the glitter and makes it move.
Have your child do variations on the experiment, and note whether they make a similar tornado. Have them move the bottle in the opposite direction. Then have them move the bottle up and down. Ask them to predict before they make the movement whether another tornado will form.
Tell your child about other vortexes in nature. Examples include hurricanes and tornadoes that form over rivers, lakes or other bodies of water, which are called waterspouts. See if they can come up with any other places a vortex might occur.
Enjoy Other Weather Experiments for Kids
If your child can’t get enough of the tornado in a bottle, you can also turn them on to other weather experiments. We hold them regularly at our science summer camps and after-school science clubs that take place throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Contact us to learn more about them.
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How to Make a Tornado in a Bottle
Last Updated: June 18, 2024 References
This article was co-authored by Jessie Antonellis-John . Jessie Antonellis-John is a Math and Science Instructor who teaches at Southwestern Oregon Community College. With over 10 years of experience, she specializes in curriculum development. Jessie earned her PhD in Teaching & Teacher Education from the University of Arizona, her Master of Education from Western Governors University, and her BS in Astrophysics from Mount Holyoke College. She’s also co-authored several peer-reviewed journal articles in professional publications. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 599,825 times.
With water, dish soap, and a bit of spinning, you can make a tornado in a bottle! This can be a great way to learn how tornadoes work. [1] X Research source For a basic experiment, try making a tornado in a single bottle. If you want to get more advanced, try putting two bottles together. Read on to learn how to get started!
Filling the Bottle(s)
- If you are only making a one-bottle tornado, you can use a plastic water bottle or a clear glass canning jar. [3] X Research source If you are making a larger two-bottle tornado, try using a pair of two-liter soda bottles.
- Try experimenting with more or less water. Record whether the amount of water has any effect on the size and speed of the tornado.
- Don't try to use other cleaning products like bleach or non-liquid soap. Do not use laundry detergent: it is designed to interact differently with water than dish soap. [5] X Research source
- Try experimenting the amount of dish-washing soap, or the brand of dish-washing soap. See if a particular brand works better than another, or if more or less soap makes a difference.
Making a One-Bottle Tornado
- Why is it spinning? [8] X Research source
- Is the tornado spinning clockwise or counterclockwise?
- How does the glitter interact with the tornado?
Making a Two-Bottle Tornado
Community q&a.
- If you are creating a two-bottle tornado, be sure to hold the bottle tops so that they don't break. Thanks Helpful 31 Not Helpful 9
- Try adding sprinkles. You could also use feathers or salt – anything that you think might get pulled up in the tornado! Thanks Helpful 28 Not Helpful 15
- Try adding different things to the mixture such as oil and food coloring. Experiment with different liquids. Thanks Helpful 26 Not Helpful 17
Tips from our Readers
- If you want to have fun with it and make it more realistic, try adding little plastic people or Legos, or use Lego doors and buildings. You can also add leaves or flowers or other items from nature.
- Spinning the bottles in a circular motion will create a nice tornado, but you can also experiment with different motions to see what other shapes you can create.
- Things could get messy. Try creating this over a sink. Thanks Helpful 22 Not Helpful 9
Things You'll Need
- One or two empty bottles: plastic or glass
- Food coloring (optional)
- Glitter, salt, or sprinkles (optional)
- Monopoly houses, marbles, or pebbles (optional)
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Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about experiments with liquids, check out our in-depth interview with Jessie Antonellis-John .
- ↑ https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/camp-little-victors/tornado-bottle
- ↑ https://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-tornado-bottle.htm
- ↑ http://classroom.synonym.com/make-tornado-bottle-using-dishwashing-liquid-7965.html
- ↑ http://www.scienceworld.ca/resources/activities/tornado-maker
- ↑ http://news.wisc.edu/18253
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF2ZByWaUMI
- ↑ http://www.kidzone.ws/science/tornado/
- ↑ http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/makeatornado.html
- ↑ http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/for_fun/TornadoBottle.pdf
About This Article
To make a fun tornado in a bottle, all you need is a plastic bottle and dish soap. Start by filling the bottle with water, leaving 2 inches of air at the top. Then, add 2 small squirts of dish soap. You can also pour in some food coloring or glitter to make a colorful tornado! Once you’ve filled the bottle, screw the cap on tight. Hold the bottle by the bottom and shake it in small circles to swirl the water around in a tornado. For more tips, including how to make a tornado with 2 big bottles, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Saturday Science: Tornado in a Bottle
- A clear plastic bottle with a cap (that won't leak)
- Dish washing liquid
- Fill the plastic bottle with water until it's about 3/4 full.
- Add a couple of drops of dish washing liquid.
- Sprinkle in a few pinches of glitter (this will make your tornado easier to see).
- Put the cap on tightly.
- Turn the bottle upside down and hold it by the neck.
- Quickly spin the bottle in a circular motion for a few seconds, stop and look inside to see if you can see a mini tornado forming in the water. HINT: You might need to practice a few times before you get it working properly.
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Tornado in a Bottle
Grade Levels
Grades K-4, Grades 5-8, Informal Education
Physical Science, Flight and Aeronautics
Hands-on Activities
Simulate a tornado inside a plastic bottle. You will observe the creation of a water vortex by swirling water in a bottle. Then, learn why pilots must consider weather before flying an airplane.
This activity is adapted from the “Weather to Fly By” educator guide.
Tornado in a Bottle: Create a vortex to talk about extreme weather
This one is for all the kids (and parents!) that have fun watching the water go down the bathtub drain and create a cool funnel. That, or you’re like me and enjoyed watching tornadoes form while storm chasing in Oklahoma!
This experiment is a way to demonstrate how a vortex, like water draining in the bathtub or a tornado, forms.
Let’s take this experiment for a spin !
How to make the Tornado in a Bottle science experiment
Supplies you will need.
For this experiment, you’ll need the following:
- Two 2-liter bottles, emptied
- Optional: small trinkets that the tornado can swirl around, food coloring
Before you start
The duct tape does not make the experiment completely waterproof. I found that a small amount of water made its way out while we were making a tornado. It may be best to do this experiment over a towel.
Instructions
Here is how to do the Tornado in a Bottle experiment:
Step 1: Add water to one of the bottles
You’ll want to fill the bottle up most of the way, but leave a few inches at the top.
If you want to use food coloring for a visual effect, this would be the time to add it in.
Get your child involved : If you’re using a funnel, see if your child would like to add the water in. Help them pour if they get too rambunctious!
Step 2: Add the dish soap and optional trinkets
The dish soap is for a visual and not totally necessary to see the vortex. It helps the vortex stand out more and can give the illusion of dirt kicking up around your tornado!
This experiment does not need a lot of dish soap to see the effect. In fact, if you add too much, it could result in too many bubbles and the water not flowing as efficiently.
The trinkets are simply for fun and can start the conversation about how powerful tornadoes can be.
Get your child involved : Have your child add a few pumps of dish soap to the bottle and, if you are using trinkets, have them choose the trinkets.
Step 3: Line up the openings of the bottles and tape them
Taking your time with this step is important, as it’s easy to have an accidental spill if things aren’t lined up just right.
I used my fingers to keep the bottle openings aligned as I added more tape. We still ended up with a very minor leak, but doing the experiment on a towel was enough to contain it.
Step 4: Turn the bottle upside-down and initiate the vortex
Once you turn the bottle upside-down, give the top bottle a few turns to initiate the spin for the vortex. After, just let the vortex begin and put on a show!
Get your child involved : Let your child try to initiate the vortex by showing them how to turn the top bottle. They may need help the first couple of times.
The science behind the Tornado in a Bottle earth science experiment
This experiment teaches:
What is a vortex?
How a vortex forms.
- What is happening inside the vortex
How it works
This experiment puts a scientific explanation behind the vortex that forms in the bathtub for your child.
A vortex is a mass of fluid 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 body subject to its action (defined by Merriam-Webster).
Some examples of vortices are:
- Tornadoes, dust devils, hurricanes, waterspouts
- Water flowing down the bathtub drain
- Stirring your coffee or tea
A vortex is formed when a substance circles around an axis point. You can spot them forming when you drain the water from a bathtub, in natural phenomena like tornadoes and hurricanes, and even when you add creamer to your coffee and see little spirals of creamer!
In the case of a tornado, the Coriolis effect does not have a direct impact on the rotation of the tornado, since a tornado is not quite large enough for it to play a part in the rotation. Instead, the supercell that the tornado spawns from is affected by the Coriolis effect, so most tornadoes in the northern hemisphere do rotate counterclockwise.
What is happening inside a vortex
This section is going to get a little technical since it’s not easily explained otherwise!
When a vortex forms, it is moving a substance from one location to another location.
In our experiment, we are moving water from one bottle to another bottle. Since the velocity of the water is greater near the bottleneck (where it is transferring to our other bottle), there is a clear velocity difference between the top of our water and the base.
That velocity difference develops a sheer force inside the vortex, forming a vortex.
More earth science experiments to try out with your child
- Cloud in a jar – make your own cloud to talk about how they form
- Moon sand – create Moon sand as a sensory experience, while learning about our Moon
- Salt dough dinosaur fossils – a lesson in paleontology while creating fossils with toy dinosaurs
FAQ about the Tornado in a Bottle earth science experiment
How do you make a tornado in a bottle with only one bottle.
If you only have one bottle handy, you can still do this vortex science experiment. Using all of the same supplies (of course with just one bottle instead of two) and the bottle cap to replace the tape, you will initiate the vortex by spinning the bottle around in a giant circle several times. The effect will not last as long, but you will still see a vortex.
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