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WhatsWhatandWhat'sDoingWhat

verseesomeonedemonstrateliftbyblowingoverapiece
of paper? While this is fun and interesting, the usual
explanationgivenismisleadingbyclaimingit'saneffect
oftheBernoulliprinciplethecorrelationbetweenairspeed
andpressure,asspeedincreasespressuredecreases.Many
folks were taught this is how planes fly, and they pass this
"wisdom"along.Butthey'refoolingthemselves,andyou.
Aerodynamicengineershaveknowthecorrectexplanation
ofliftfordecades,yetthemisconceptionofBernoulliprinciple
liftlivesoninthepublicimagination.However,itisnothowan
airfoil generates lift. That's a whole different kettle of fish.
ReadeitherHowPlanesCanFlyforabreifovervieworSee
HowitFliestogetthecompleteskinnyonlift.
Bytheway,theillustrationsherearenottruediagrams,but
visual aids. Fluid behavior is a complicated business which
can seem like organised chaos, what with tumbling and
swirling, i.e., turbulence. We're not going to get into these
details,butconcentrateonsimplifiedbasics.

TheBernoulliPrinciple
What does this correlation between speed and pressure
mean? Here'sa wayto imagineit. Ifyou've everwatched a
roadraceyouknowthecarsslowdownandbunchupintight
turns.Speeding upout ofthe turnthey getstretched out.In
thepicture, araceofficial witha stopwatchatthe turntimes
the cars as they pass, they are one second apart, though
close together. A second officialtimes them on the straight
away, where they are also one second apart, though with
severalcarlengthsbetweenthem.

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The same number of cars will pass each official in the

sameamountoftime,butthe fastertheygothemorespace
thereisbetween them.Thisiswhatthe Bernoulliprincipleis
about, only withliquids and gasses, not cars.The faster air
flowsthemoreit getsstretchedoutsothere'sless airinthe
samevolume,it'slessdense.
As speed increases pressuredecreases, and viceversa.
Higher speed means more force in the direction of flow. I
mean,you'lltakea biggerhitfromafastcar onthestraight
away thana slow carin the turn.This higher speedhas an
effect,too. Afterall,trees getblownover inawind storm.Is
that because of a change of pressure or the force of the
airflow?Let'sreturntowingsandairflowandsuch.
Paper Lift:Let's have a look at a the "lift" demonstration
mentioned in the opening and see what it's about. Take a
pieceofstiff paperandcurveit likeawing.Hold itupunder
yourmouthandblowonit.Itlifts!(Thisworkssimilarlywitha
flimsysheetofpaperbecause gravitypullsdownthefarend
creatingacurve.)

Thecommonexplanationisthefastairstreamovertophas
lowerpressure(theBernoulliprinciple)whichsucksthepaper
up.Problemis,thispaperliftreallydemonstratestheCoand
effectratherthantheBernoulliprinciple.

TheCoandEffect
You can easily demonstrate the Coand effect for yourself
with a tablespoon and faucet.Conveniently, these are often
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foundtogetherinthekitchen,noneedforhighlytechnicallab
equipment. Follow the steps you see below. Gases behave
prettymuchlikeliquids,sowhenyouseethewaterbehaving
strangely with the spoon, that's what the air does with the
curvedpaper.

Dangle the spoon as shown next to the stream coming

fromthetap.Isaydanglebecauseyouwanttoholditloosely
enoughsoitcanswingbackandforthabit.(Ithelpstoattach
apieceoftapeatthehandleendtoactasahinge.)Movethe
spoon up to the edge of the stream so it barely touches.
Whenyoudothewaterwillflowaroundthebowlofthespoon
and off the bottom deflected to the side and the spoon will
moveintothestream.
Just as waterflowing around the spoon'scurved surface
draws itinto the stream, airblown over the curvedpaper is
whatcausestheliftin thatcommonpaperliftdemonstration.
Imaginethestreamofwater turned90degreesandyoucan
seewehavethesamesituationasinthepaperlift,onlywith
wateryoucanseeinsteadofairwhichyoucan't.

Notice how unlike a wing in flight it is, flow on one side

only. The Coand effect only works in specific conditions
whereanisolatedjetoffluid(orair)flowsacrossasurface,a
situationwhichisusuallymanmade.Youdon'tfinditmuchin
nature and doesn't happen overa wing, either. Just so you
know,thereisnoCoandliftonanairfoil.
The Coand effect is a ballancing act between many
factors, among them speed, pressure, molecular attraction,
andacentrifugaleffectifthesurfaceiscurved.Howexactlyit
works isunimportant tounderstand thedemonstrations we'll
examine.Butdothespoontestandyou'llseethatitworks.I
can'texplaingravityeither,butwebothknowit'srealenough.
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This effect is named for Romanian air pioneer Henri

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This effect is named for Romanian air pioneer Henri

Coand,aninterestingcharacterinhisownright.Readabout
his jet planebuilt in 1910. If you are still curious how the
Coandaeffectworksyoumightreadthisexplanation.

Moremisleading"lift"explanations
ClashingBalloons:Hang twoballoons from stringsan inch
or so apart. Blow a stream of air between them and they
movetogether.Now,Ishowawindspriteinthepicture,butif
oneisnotarounddoityourself.

RailroadBottles:Seta pairofemptysoda bottlesaboutan

inch orso aparton a counteror table. Blowa streamof air
betweenthemandtheymovetogether.
The explanation usually given for both phenomena is by
speedinguptheairbetweentheballoonsandthebottlesyou
reduce the pressure in the airstream as per the Bernoulli
principle.Thelowerpressurepullstheobjectsintothestream
sotheycometogether.Unfortunately,that'snotquitetheway
it works. Notice you're blowing a steam across a curved
surface. If you suspect the Coand effect is involved, you
suspectcorrectly.

Theairflowacrossthesurfaceoftheroundobjectsinboth
casesgive youaCoand effectpullingthem together.Once
again,just aswiththepaper lift,theBernoullieffect aloneis
not doing the trick as advertised. Again, this does not
demonstratehowawinggenerateslifteither.
ConeandBallLevitation:Putalightballinanupsidedown
funnelorconeandblow throughthesmallend,orotherwise
getsomefastairflowthroughit.Theballwillnotbeblownout,

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getsomefastairflowthroughit.Theballwillnotbeblownout,
butwilllevitateintheconeasshown.

Theexplanation sometimesgivenforthis phenomenonis

the Bernoulli principle creates a low pressure zone in the
conesotheballdoesn'tfallout.Butit'snotsosimpleasthat.
In thisinstance we'veadded aforce toreckon with,the stiff
conebarrieraroundtheflow.
Onethingyouneedtoknowbeforeweproceed.Whenyou
blowa streamofair, likeoutof ahair dryer,youdon't geta
distinct "tube" of air punched through the surrounding air.
Fluidbehaviorisrarelysosimple.Instead,yougetsomething
morealongthelinesofafastriverconstantlyerodingasandy
riverbed.Itcarrieswhatit'srubbingagainstalongwithit.

Something similar happens with airflow, the ambient air

besides the flow gets swept along where they intermingle,
whichisentrainmentoffluid.Thiscreatesasortofconeofair,
fastinthecenter,fanningoutandgraduallysloweralongside.
Airnotonlyflowsinthehairdryer'sinletandoutthroughthe
blowertube,butalsoisdrawninfromsurroundingareasand
sweptalong.
Returningtotheconebusiness,astheairstreamexitsthe
tubeintothesmallendoftheconeyougetthesameentrain
mentof airasexplainedabove. Newairstreams towardthe
spacewherethe airisbeingblownoutforming aringvortex
shaped likea donut around thefast airstream inthe center.
Theballlevitatesinthisvortexasifitwereflyingratherthan
beingheldupbytheBernoulliprinciple.

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One important aspect of this effect is a ball is the only

shape that works. You have to have a ball so the airflow
arounditissmoothsonottodisruptthevortexwhichiswhat's
doingthetrick.

OneLastDemonstrationWithaBitofEverything
Ball Levitation:Take a hair dryer blowing straight up and
introduceapingpongballintotheairstreamwhereitwillfloat.
Tilttheblowdryeruptoabout45degrees,theballdoesn'tfall
outbut"levitates"intheairstream.(I'vealsoseenitworkwith
avollyballandastrongleafblower.)

The commonlygiven explanation for thisphenomenon is

theBernoulliprinciplecreatesalowpressurezoneinthefast
flowing airstreamcompared tothe air alongside sothe ball
doesn'tfall out.However, it'snotthat simple.What wehave
here is what's referred to as parachuting. How a parachute
worksseemsobviousandsimple,butit'snot.
Airfills theinsideofa parachuteineffectturning itintoa
halfballofairwithafabricskinontop.Thefallingparachute
"scoops"outanareaoflowpressureovertop.(Youmightlike
toknow aparachutedoesn't filloutfrom increasedpressure
below, but because of decreased pressure above.) As with
anything moving through a gas, a vortex forms and the air
from below races up along the curved fabric towards the
lowerpressureovertopcreatingCoandandBernoullieffect
lift.

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The air"rolls" along the fabricin a ring vortexnot unlike

theoneintheconefromabove.Thesecannotlastforever(for
reasons too boring to get into) and are periodically shed in
what'scalledperiodicvortexsheddingaptlyenough. Tokeep
it simple let's just say a parachute not only has some air
resistance underneath, it has lift over the top, which is
parachuting.
Notbeingonlyahalfballbutawholeone,apingpongball
inanupwardblowingstreamissimilar,butdifferent.(AsYogi
Berra's son once said, "Our similarities are different".)
Because ofa ball'saerodynamic shape,being roundon the
bottominanyposition,there'slessairresistanceunderneath
than with the half ball parachute. Compare the difference
betweena ballandawad ofpaper.Theball hoversabout3
inchesfromtheblowerend,thepaperwadisblownabouttwo
feetupandout.Thewaddisplaysnotendencytostayinthe
streamatall,agoodhintpressuredifferencesalonearen'tthe
fullstory.

Thepaperwadgetsmoreupwardpushfromtheairstream
because theirregular shape inhibitsflow and trapsmore air
underneath. Ona ball the airslips around the sidesand so
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there's less upward push and equal flow and pressure all
around keeping it centered in the stream. In fact, a ball is
about the only shape that will float this way in a vertical
airstream.
Whenyoutilt thestreamandget thedramatic"levitation"
effect, the ball doesn't stay in the center of the stream, it
hangs downwith theupper partin thefaster center(A) and
thebottomintheslowersectionofentrainedair(B).Theball
fallstoaspotwithdifferentairspeedsandpressureaboveand
belowwhereithasenoughparachutinglifttostayup.

Afteryoutiltthestreampastacertainangleyoureach"the
tippingpoint"and theballfallsoutofthe airstream.Ifyou've
ever done any house framing you'll understand the tipping
point concept.Once youget past45 degreesupright itgets
easierandeasiertotipupyourwallasmoreoftheweightis
transferred down vertically through the wall rather than on
you. One way to think of it, a vertical slab is a wall and a
horizontalone isa roof.At45 degreesit's halfwall andhalf
roof,that'sthetippingpoint.
Something like this happens to the levitating ball. The
more you tilt the more the flow pushes horizontally than
vertically, soyou're relying on thelift above moreand more
until you reach the tipping point. The ball falls out because
gravityovercomesthedecreasingupwardpush.(Itoldyouit
wasn'tallthatsimple.)
Onlya ballshape worksforthis demonstration.A wadof
paperorpuffofcottonofthesamesizeanweightsimplydon't
work.That'sbecauseit'snot justpressuredifferences,aball
createsparachutingliftandflies.

SummingUp
What's sometimes omitted inthe misleading explanations is
the confounding forcesbesides a pressure reductionas per
the Bernoulliprinciple. Thereis alsoan increasein dynamic
pressure. Plus,every bit of aparatuslike a funnel,a curved
shape,orsomethingredirectingtheflowwillhaveanimpact.
Youneedtolookatthewholepicture.
You can always count on increased air speed to reduce
pressure as described by the Bernoulli principle. However,
onceitencountersanewforce,likeawalloryousittingthere
being cooled off,additional principles also apply.How a fan
coolsyouisanothercanofwormswewon'tgointo.ButIwill
saythis,ithasnothingtodowiththeBernoulliprincipleorthe

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saythis,ithasnothingtodowiththeBernoulliprincipleorthe
Coandeffect.Atleast,I'mprettysureitdoesn't.I'lllookintoit
later.
TerryColon,2007

SpecialthankstoTerryDaywhoseinvaluableassistance,and
patience, helped me understand it. Mr. Day is a fluid
dynamicsengineeratNewFluidTechnology
How Planes Can Fly Forget Bernoulli and Coand, Think
LanchesterPrandtl
Adetailed,comprehensiveexplainationoflift:
SeeHowitFlies

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