Scientists made upside-down boats float in a levitating layer of liquid
French scientists conducted an unusual experiment and observed the behavior of various objects that were placed in a fluid levitating under the action of vertical vibration.
According to visual observations, this unique phenomenon completely copies the most common swimming under normal conditions, and it seems that gravity has simply changed its direction.
Benjamin Apffel et al. / Nature, 2020
What is the essence of the experiment
If we take a certain physical system (for example, a certain volume of liquid), which is affected by mechanical vibrations, then vibrational forces can arise in such a system. It is these forces that under certain conditions can have a significant impact on the entire physical system.
It is this effect that was used in this experiment.
Experiment progress
The engineers of the Higher School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry of Paris made the following experiment: they took square vessels of various widths (from 2 to 20 cm), into which a viscous liquid was poured. A mixture of silicone oil and glycerin with a viscosity of 0.2-1 pascal-seconds (for water, under normal conditions, the viscosity is about a thousandth of a pascal-second).
Then these vessels were placed on vibration stands, which vibrated at frequencies from 60 to 130 Hertz, and already through a syringe, air was gradually introduced into the lower part of the liquid.
Thus, it was possible to stabilize the levitating liquid and already in the lower region under the liquid steel add various objects (balls of different diameters, children's boats, etc.) and watch them behavior.
During the experiment, it turned out that objects immersed in this way float in an inverted position, as if gravity had changed its direction. And the heavier balls sank into the liquid more than the lighter ones.
However, balls weighing more than 6 grams still fell under the action of gravity to the bottom of the vessels, but did not violate the integrity of the levitating layer of liquid.
Benjamin Apffel et al. / Nature, 2020
Proposed physical description of the process
Scientists have proposed the following description of the observed effect:
The behavior of the system is explained by the fact that the body itself, immersed in a liquid, vibrates during vibrations. It is this fact that generates vibrational forces that hold objects in an inverted position and thereby compensate for gravity.
According to scientists, this experiment was not set up for fun, and thus they plan expand your experimental knowledge about the phenomena that occur at the boundaries of two environments: liquid-air.
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