A tornado is often called a twister or a cyclone.A tornado is a storm where there are violently rotating winds in a circular motion. In real life, tornadoes are at one end connected to the surface of the Earth and their top surface is connected to a cumulus cloud.A tornado can occur in various shapes and sizes and at varying speeds as well. Most tornadoes reach a speed of around 110 mph (177 kph) but the bigger ones can reach up to a wind speed of 300 mph (483 kph) and are around 2 mi (3 km) in diameter. Visually, a tornado looks like a vertically spinning force in the shape of a funnel containing dust and debris inside it. More often than not, this stuff fascinates kids, but it is dangerous to take a child to see a tornado. Instead, why not create a tornado in a bottle at home for free? This way your child will be able to learn about what a tornado looks like and how it eventually dies out after some time.What is a tornado?A tornado is a violent storm in which the air rotates vertically in a column at a high speed. The funnel-like structure touches the ground at one end and the other end is connected to a thunderstorm cloud. Generally, a tornado lasts for only a few minutes but it can cause considerable destruction. In the past, there have been some violent ones. A tornado pulls not only dirt and debris but also objects inward within its whirl.There are different kinds of tornadoes, and you can perhaps differentiate them if you observe each tornado carefully. Some types of tornadoes include the landspout, waterspout, and the multiple vortex tornado. The chances are higher for a tornado to develop in tropical regions that are close to the equator rather than in high altitude areas. Canada and USA experience the highest number of tornadoes in the world, specifically in the Southeast and Central regions of the United States. Some of the other countries which commonly expereince a tornado include Spain, South Africa, New Zealand, and Bangladesh.How is a tornado formed?Tornadoes do not form out of the blue as a supercell thunderstorm is the parent storm that eventually develops into a tornado. A supercell thunderstorm contains a vortex within it which can be considered as the primary ingredient in order to form a tornado. A vortex is basically a spinning column of air which is present at the center of the supercell thunderstorm.As the supercell thunderstorm grows, the vortex within in begins to tilt. This leads to moist, warm air being siphoned and cold air moving towards the ground. Eventually the vortex swells with water vapor and as warm air updrafts, this leads to the formation of a funnel shaped cloud in the center. These are early signs of a tornado. Due to the downdraft of cool air, the funnel-shaped cloud is eventually forced to touch the ground and at optimum pressure and weight, and we see a storm in circular motion or as it is commonly known, a tornado.Can we make a tornado?Absolutely, in fact, there are two ways of performing the tornado in a bottle experiment. In the first one we will be using two plastic bottles, one empty and fill the other one with some water. All you need to do is follow some instructions and then watch the water inside the plastic bottle move like a tornado. For the tornado in a bottle science experiment, other than a couple of plastic bottles, all you need is some tape.The first step is to connect both the bottles by their mouths, creating an airtight, watertight connection at the mouth of both the bottles. The bottles must be upright which means that the bottle that is filled with water must have its bottom attached to the ground, and the bottom of the bottle which is empty should be straight up in the air. While filling the bottle with water, ensure that it isn’t filled 100%, leaving some space at the top of it.The next step in this cool bottle science experiment is to flip the bottle upside down reversing the flow of water from one bottle to the other. As the water flows, the air pressure in the bottle which is now at the top is less than the air pressure in the bottle which is at the bottom. The final step is swirling the bottle filled with water and observe the liquid which flows into the empty bottle as this creates a vortex or a tornado like effect in the water.How can you make a tornado in a bottle?The other bottle science experiment of making a tornado in a bottle requires some dish soap, some glitter, and an empty 0.26 gal (1 l) bottle.Fill the 0.26 gal (1 l) bottle with with some water and leave around 2 in (5 cm) of gap near the cap at the top. The next step is to add a small amount of dish soap and at the end, add some glitter too into the water. Tightly fix the cap on to the top of the bottle. This experiment will help kids learn about the existence of centripetal force in science and at the same time have some fun looking at a tornado in a bottle.Hold the bottle by its neck and turn the bottle upside down. Start swirling the bottle in a circular motion with all your strength, and after about 20 seconds stop swirling the bottle, watch it closely. You will notice a tornado in a bottle without any of the danger of getting near to a real tornado. Kids can take a look and they will notice a sign of glitter and water in the shape of a tornado.This happens due to the spin on the bottle which creates a water vortex due to centripetal force which can be described as a force which makes an object move in a circular path. This makes the soap water and the glitter spin, creating a tornado like effect. This experiment is fun for kids and at the same time, they create a tornado for free using some basic principles of science. You can also do it with a Twister Tube. However, without a Twister Tube, you can spin a tornado using a metal washer, bottles, water, and duct tape.
A tornado is often called a twister or a cyclone.
