Information

• blow dryer

• Ping pong ball

• heavy books

Casting the Spell

Place the blow dryer on the floor with the blower side up.

Stack the books on either side of the blow dryer so that the blow dryer will be steady.

Plug in the blow dryer.

Turn on the dryer.

Carefully place the ping pong ball over the stream of air. Let go.

What happens? 

The Science Behind the Spell:

The air on the left side of the ball is moving faster than on the right side, where the air isn't moving. The faster the air moves, the less pressure is exerted on the left side of the ball. The pressure on the right side of the ball has not changed. There is less pressure on the left side of the ball; so the ball will move toward the left.

No matter which side the ball is pushed, it will gravitate toward the center of the air stream, and stay balanced.

This is an example of the Bernoulli principle. The Bernoulli principle states that the moving air exerts less pressure on the ball than the side with the still air.

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