Video credit: Phred Petersen (RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC) with assistance from Phil Taylor (Phantom Camera Field Applications Engineer)
This is a slow-motion (50,000 fps) video of a toy bottle rocket “launching” off of its pad. Using Schlieren photography techniques, the differences in flow density appear as a range of different colors. As the pressurized fluid (probably water; this is not specified by the authors) exits the bottle, it quickly encounters the much lower atmospheric pressure. The fluid mechanics are complex, but the end result is a shockwave is produced some distance from the nozzle. The pattern repeats itself several times, producing the standing wave pattern seen above. Eventually, the fluid pressure equalizes to the surrounding pressure, and no more shockwaves can be seen. Although at much lower pressure, this demo illustrates a well-known phenomena- “shock diamonds”- seen in the supersonic exhaust of rocket engines and some jet engines.
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Second Place. It’s amazing how when something ordinary get analysed you can see the true beauty and patterns nature forms itself
Second Place. I love the way you can see the cone forming.
Second place. The juxtaposition of colors while the bottle launches is unreal. I’m curious as to what exactly the fluid is or what kind of editing to the image was done to make the colors pop.
First place because we both posted mach diamonds for Best of Web. This is an experiment that I found while searching for my Best of Web, and I was wanting to reproduce it later in the semester.
“First Prize” As a former user of toy bottle rocket kits as a kid it was really cool to see the actual flow in slow motion. It was so interesting how the Schlieren visualization method formed distinct geometric shapes from the fluid shooting out of the bottle and then its dissipation as it moved away from the “launch pad”
Second place. It is amazing the flow phenomena that could occur right in front of us without us noticing. Beautiful colors and imaging.
Second Prize: I like how the Schlieren method of photography is able to present a visual representation of the flow densities resulting from the bottle rocket launching of its pad.
Second Place. This is a great visual representation of the mathematics behind the fluids since you can clearly see the conical shape forming in the wake.
Second Place