This was great. I'm actually working on a PhD in vortex interaction and mixing in the exhaust systems of turbojet engines. Seeing this gave me lots to think about. I'll be making a few more views while I wrap my head around it more.

The colors don't mix because there actually are two layers to the vortex. The dyes are flowing toroidally, through the centre of the ring, and, in the other direction, down the outside of the ring. If the vortices last long enough, the colors will eventually switch sides, then mix via diffusion. If you read this, I recommend trying it.

Cool video! The reason the vortex collapses and doesn't split in two when having it collide with the pole is that a vortex can't really end inside the fluid. The vortex is basically a 2 dimensional flow structure around a line i.e. the vortex center. That can exist as long as the line ends at the free surface or a solid surface or goes around in a loop. As soon as the line is broken, the direction of rotation of the fluid at the free end of the line becomes arbitrary and the 'nice' flow pattern bursts up into random turbulence and dissipates as the eddies become smaller and smaller.

I LOVE this! Such as simple way to show this phenomenon. Have you ever seen the vortices created by dolphins? There are a few videos of captive dolphins creating complex air vortices with their tails where they pull down air from the surface and create an air filled vortex that stretches from the surface of the air/water interface down several meters into the water of their tank. Some of these tubule vortices are smaller than the width of a pencil. Dolphins also create torroidal rings with their sonar/echolocation abilities, then they blow air into the ring and an amazing silver spinning torroidal ring is created. The dolphins can then "blast" this spinning ring with sonic frequencies and move the ring around the water. Some dolphins can even change the shape and size of the air filled vortices. It is truly amazing to watch. The physics behind what they are doing for play is incredible. Thanks for posting.

Since the molecules of food coloring are being pulled into the vortex, I wonder if there's something smaller than a ping pong ball that would be pulled in and where it would end up. Something like a small, lightweight bead, or colored rice perhaps. Cool stuff! Keep em coming.

Physics: "Making boring things interesting since the dawn of time." Wish I had a pool now...

A similar process is actually what is believed to be behind the formation of tornadoes, the RFD of the supercell (akin to the area between the vortices where the water is flowing through) encounters warmer air and pushes through it, creating counter rotating vortices connected by a vortex arch, and if one of them gets further stretched by the storm’s updraft, that’s when a tornado can form

Destin from SmarterEveryDay would have a field day with this. We have to tell him! Thanks for showing this to me.

These pairs of vortices are called Falaco Solitons. I have used a square ceramic floor tile to generate these, and it works just fine. A swim fin works too, and a monofin makes a HUGE pair! Go to the thrift store and get yourself a gigantic serving platter. You won't regret a thing.

I wonder, if you put something small, (like a string I guess) on one end of the vortex and it ends up on the other side. kinda like a wormhole? just an observation.

Part of the reason for the vortices dying unexpectedly could be the wind blowing over the pool? And of course, floating debries? But then again the ping pong ball was whole heartedly accepted by the vortex gods. :P

You are seriously blowing my mind with these vortices! What boggles my mind the most is how the colors didn't mix with red and blue.... are there any models for how this happens? It looked like one vortice enveloped the other... did they ever mix at any point in the pool? So many questions. Keep up the good work!

this has a lot of amazing physics behind it, the two different colours blew me away

One of the coolest videos i've seen on this. Wow.

This is a wonderful follow up to your previous video (Which went viral enough that I was seeing it referenced multiple times throughout my social media accounts). Great work!

I loved the way you experimented with this phenomena, It is the most facinating demonstration I have seen in a while. Lots of food for thought. Thanks

I haven’t seen anyone else talk about this before but if you have a circle shaped pool that’s not too wide and walk around in a circle on the edges it creates a vortex that carries u ☺️😮

That's awesome! I'm a Formula 1 fan and in the modern F1 era is not just about wings to attach the cars to the circuit, they create, control and manipulate all kind of vortex to keep the car under control, and it amazes me. The most important vortex in F1 is called Y250 vortex (there're some videos where you can actually see it :)

I love seeing the colors added, it provides such a great visual. Great videos! Thank you for showing people how fun science can be!

Yay more vortex experiments. The two colours is really cool.

This is amazing, thanks very much for uploading the video!

Since for me, the very concept of a vortex is one of the most interesting science topics in the world, this is a fun video.

should have done 1 large plate and 1 small plate to let the vortexes go past each other and see if they interact

Good stuff PhysicsGirl. This is the Falaco soliton. It's like half a smoke ring. Thomson and Tait explored vortices in the 19th Century. Tait was the guy who did the knot tables, and together they proposed a "vortex atom". They were ahead of their time, as was Maxwell and his molecular vortices because electrons hadn't been discovered yet. The electron is a "bispinor". Imagine an optical vortex that's like a smoke ring but with a steering-wheel rotation as well. Anyway, you can emulate attraction and repulsion with the Falaco solitons, and annihilation. That's best done in a pond with a muddy bottom. You aim two vortexes at one another face on, and they kick up mud as they destroy one another. And you know you did two vortices in quick succession? Get it right and the second one goes through the first, and the first then starts to go through the second like dozy-doh dance partners. This is maybe something like low-temperature superconduction and Cooper pairs. See "On Vortex Particles" by David St John: www.scribd.com/doc/68152826/On-Vortex-Particles-Fiasco-Press-Journal-of-Swarm-Scholarship#scribd

I have suggestions for two experiments: Experiment #1. Try two at once, using an assistant. You move your plate, for example, from one end of the pool south, while your assistant is at the side of the pool moving a plate west. In other words, hopefully the two vortices would move independently, orthogonally through each other. In support of this theory, think about throwing two pebbles in a pond and the concentric ripples move through each other with no apparent interaction. Experiment #2: Since the vortices terminate at the surface of the water, how do you know the air above the pool wasn’t going through the same phenomenon, but we just couldn’t see it? You might try the experiment in a tank, with water on the bottom, and oil (vegetable oil, etc.) floating on top. You’d need your plate (or simple rectangular plate mounted to a horizontal piston) at the level of the interface. I have no idea how you’d introduce the colored dyes.

thanks, never saw anything similar before! amazing

Thank you so much for doing these experiments! I've always wanted to know what actually happens with the vortices in the pool!

2:30 wow, season 14 of Red vs Blue looks great.

What if, instead of such a thick object to 'Split the two' you used a skinnier object like a tooth pick or string? Maybe the vortex wasn't powerful enough on this scale to connect back together because the object was massively thick.

This is a great video! I'm glad you did another one about the half-ring vortices.

Bless your heart for jumping in to get the underwater shots!

Didn't expect it to capture the ping pong ball. How about putting different food coloring in the center and outside of the same end of the vortex? Will they stay in their own layers like we saw with different colors on each end? Is the layer effect known or expected?

These visualizations are fantastic and can be used in the classroom

Questions I had while watching this: 1. What if you used different shaped plates? Oblong, unequal on either side, square... Large sized as well as smaller. 2. Does the medium matter, or will thinner liquids, such as air, show similar properties? if so, how would you test them? Smoke? 3. How long was the average time duration of each event? 4. Where there any visible activities in the pool that would explain why they just broke apart at times? Could observations be made to that end somehow?

Nice to see another gal in the STEM field! Pls no hate! I'm a girl too! Ps lovely vid!

Your vortices are all parallel to the length of the pool. What happens if you send them the short way, or at an angle? How does the speed or force of the push affect the vortices? What about the size of the plate?

I didn't realise the first video had gone viral. Congratulations, you deserve it!

SO amazing,..... I hope you open MANY other peoples' minds to the wonders of physics!!!

We're starting Fluid Mechanics next semester. This is so cool, I can't wait. :D

Amazing (again). What is blowing my mind off is why the coulors don't mix. I'd expected a purple vortex but instead you see clearly red vortex engulfing the blue one. Only laminar flow would explain non-mixing ink particles. Great video.

Я искал этот канал 4 месяца)😍

When submarines run fast on the surface they have such a vortex on either side behind the bow , running under the submarine to the other side, and they are so clear with frothy white foam running along the side of the sub. Considering a submarine is somewhat like a symmetrical airfoil section, the high pressure and low pressure zones are so clear to see before our eyes. These low pressure points on a wing would be a little behind the leading edge.

Physics girl, This is probably one of the coolest videos, you can clearly see the inner funnel (red pair, not with the green) at the beginning, but have you thought of putting something with a sharp edge instead of a rounded edge? Id predict that it could cut it in two and keep going

This is so damn facinating?! Instant subscribe! You're awesome, girl!

I really hope you are getting better from long covid. When you are better here is an idea for a video. At 0:26 in this video the ripples on the surface of the pool can be seen as shadows on the bottom of the pool. I used that to show my grandchildren how waves move, reflect off hard surfaces and interfere. I expect you could show that and much, much more in a video. With my very best wishes, Tony in England

Wow! The visual effect of the phenomenon is astounding! Thank you for such a wonderful video! I wonder what would change if the temperature of the pool was very different from the colouring liquid. Would vortices still form in the same arch if the water was warmer?

Great, now do the same experiment with black holes and see if you get a portal going.

Anyone else picture a wormhole in space when they were watching these?

I am asking if a vortex ring would form if you didn't use a semi-circle shape to cause the ring. In fact, what would happen if you submerged the plate below the half-way point? Could you come closer to seeing a complete ring submerged? What kind of vortex shapes form when you use other shapes? Do you know? This kind of question is interesting to people who design wings or dive fins or anything where light fluids like air and water flow. There is speculation that fish swim in large numbers to capture the energy generated by vortices that they create when swimming and then use the energy in those vortices to make the passage through water more efficient. Seeing how long the vortex ring lasted makes that speculation more compelling.

What happens if you were to move one side of the plate through the water at a faster rate to the other? (ie, 'curve the plate' along a vertical axis to one side as you move it through). Would the vortex created become elongated due to one side moving faster than the other? or would it die out faster? if you (or someone else) could try this it would be greatly appreciated! (also can you put the food colouring on the plate itself so we can see the transformation of the vortex immediately) Cheers! :)

The fact that i love science and love colors at the same time(though i love them better in light) this vid is perfect for my likings 😍😍

Hypothesis: the pole destroying the vortex depends on the diameter of the pole. To see an object with radar or a flashlight, you have to use a wavelength shorter than twice the object's size, so maybe there's an equivalent maximum size object the vortex "wave" can bypass.

This was very interesting. The interlocking nature of the current makes me think that they are supporting each other in some way. Clearly the turbulence is developed as the plate enters the pool. The fact that the same liquids from the beginning are the ones making the journey should be emphasized.

LOL... The Electric Universe Theory. Now picture the pool vortex as a Galaxy floating in space and the plasma electromagnetic connection between them through interstellar particle beams. i.e. The Galactic Web. Try making 8 vortex with four plates simultaneously from each side of the pool and see how they all interact with different color dye? IMO... Gases, Liquids & Magnetic energy flow are all one and the same. They all follow the same path. Vortex Mathematics. Love this video! Great Job. Cool discovery.

So could you stop a tornado by disturbing the circulation at one end of the vortex? Obviously, surface irregularities on the ground (as in buildings and trees) are not enough to stop a tornado, but would it be more vulnerable at its other end in the sky? I know this might sound kind of silly, but if you were to detonate a powerful enough explosive in the clouds above a tornado, would the blast disturb the air circulation enough to break the vortex and harmlessly unravel the tornado (as a last resort of course)?

Great experiment! Here you can get a glimpse of the underpinning of all matter & energy. What might be a good addition to these is to have several people (or a machine if possible) create a series of vortices traveling side by side in the same direction. Then, try two sets of vortices traveling towards each other from opposite sides of the pool. Will they still unravel, or will some of them interact, merge and repel?

on the one vortex eating the other I am guessing that is from slight differences in speed caused by uneven pushing of the plate through the water. as for what rimstarorg was mentioning about pulling, I am sure the smaller item wont be if they are filled with air and light like the pingpong balls, the foodcoloring, works because its nearly the same weight as the water so it is easy for it to mix into downward as well as upward in the water with little effort energetically.

Thanks so much for creating and sharing this educational and entertaining video. Great job. Hope that each day you are feeling better than the day before.🙏

My canoe paddle creates two vortices very similar to the way your plate does. I did not know that they are actually connected below the surface. Very cool. 😎👍🏼

This is really genius, well done.

The ping pong ball reminds me of spacetime. Picture the Earth inside of the vortex, and the moon as the "tidally locked" ping pong ball. You're only going to see one side of the ping pong ball, no matter where you are at in the vortex. At first, I thought it would be the other way around, with the Earth clogging the vortex and the moon outside of it, as you see in most 2D depictions of spacetime. But, imagining the entire galaxy interacting through vortex physics makes a lot of sense, considering the shape. Putting this into perspective, it's hard to argue against the universe being a fluid. A black hole would simply be the surface of the water, and beyond, as viewed from inside the pool.

It's is the variation of the vibration in the water that causes it to act predictable. Try to pour color salt water at both hot and cold to see what happens. I am sure the vortex will try to to get larger or smaller.

2:58 - The way the ball "slingshotted" past the vortex reminds me of a gravity assist which spacecraft use to speed up without using their engines.

Extremely cool. Maybe Destin or slow mo guys want to do a colab for some high speed stuff

I genuinely believe this is a peak into the way space-time works. It's got be some type of fluid. Superfluid most likely. If this could be replicated fully submerged without disturbing the water in any other way, that would be incredible to see.

Wonderful video Diana. Try filling an "Air Blaster" with food coloring. It fires a perfect torus underwater.

Hope you get better soon! Thanks for sharing so much knowledge and cool science!

Periods! WITH PHYSICS GIRL!

Wow, these ideas granted some really cool results! I wonder what would happen if 2 vortexes, going perpendicular to each other, collided. I think they'd most likely die, but who knows, maybe something cool happens.

Awesome video, thank you!! BTW that leather jacket looks great!!

This is how I stir my coffee, but obviously with a spoon. Mind blown, super cool (yes, I'm a physicist...). Thanks!

Well done getting the plural of Vortex right

Because Veritasium I'm here. Wow, as if two of my favorite youtubers, Derek and bionerd23 collaborating in a single video wasn't good enough, I meet your channel. What a delightful day!

ive seen dolphins do something similar with bubble vortices under water while playing its really neat

This video contains the answer to making the warp drive a practicality. You need a vortex building upon a vortex. It's not about creating the one big wave, rather it's all about a wave following a wave. It's really a question of symmetry, proximity, balance, and emergent effects. When you understand the underlying tensional fabric of space-time better, it will become incredibly obvious. The trick is to use sequential induction rings in a cylindrical physical shielding structure (to block cosmic rays/particles), to magnify the effect exponentially, which should get you at least .14 "warp factor" (and maybe as high as .83, depending on how well you synchronize how many interactive generators). The more effects (even if smaller) you can generate within a given length, the greater the exponential buildup will be, and so the greater velocity you can simulate as you ride the total wave of transposition of location. You don't need one big "boom," you need to surf your way along. This is enough to jet around the solar system for now, and to send probes to nearby star systems. You have to get the embedded rings within positive feedback/emergence range of each other. "From many, comes one" is the effect you need, so power-plant distribution should be designed around maximizing that dynamic. Since this eliminates the mass limitations in free-space, you only have to worry about launch conditions. You could shield the thing with granite plates if you want. You will need some kind of reaction drive to navigate the "Void" you create, at least a 1st stage factor to clear the ground so the warp-effects don't wreak havoc on the launch site, or you have to accept using sea-launches with a potentially expendable launch platform ship -- the ironic inverse of the sea-landing platform of current Space-X technique. Once in free-fall, you should only need a tiny Newtonian factor to direct the course from there. You could keep resource waste of the launch platform to a minimum by having decompression floatation devices on a delay to re-float the launch platform so it can be towed back to shore and repaired. You are now free to move about the solar system.

Pretty cool video. I could feel my eyes open wider as things happened.

How about... using the small plate and making the ping-pong ball move through the middle of the two vortices? If the ping pong ball does get some propulsion, you could try and see if multiple half-rings in a row propel the ping-pong ball accelerating through each half-ring.

Nice visualization travel technology in space based on the principle worm hole. :) Good work Physics Girl ! :)

What would happen if there is a hot (or cold) water region on the way of vortex?

Just found your channel amazing work keep moving

immediately made me think of wormholes in space :) Last year a group of researchers modelled a black hole using a plug hole so who knows, you might have stumbled onto something... It would be really cool to see this scaled up to a really BIG vortex :) got to try this one when summer comes. In the southern hemisphere the winter solstice happened today :)

This is crazy cool! I love your channel!

Physics. Gotta love physics.

What would happen if you put food coloring in the path of the vortex but not in the vortex itself? Would it absorb it or push it out of the way?

I never knew! This may be a wonderful demonstration of a general phenomenon. Maybe vortexes of all types and scales have exactly two ends.

Truly fascinating. Makes me even like my PhD thesis again 😄

Interesting. Amazing phenomena

Some waterspouts have been observed having 2seprate parts just like your 2color demo there. Like a vertical version between cloud and ocean.

When she said about divorcees changing directions, you can make those vortices up to 2, 3 even 4 times their size by using a much larger flat and circular object and all that motions of changing directions also changing shape happens more often in the big ones then it happens on the smaller ones and I want to see her make one of those larger ones that are much larger than the plates their self to see what's different about the larger ones versus the normal-sized half ring vortices

A story of a friendship...

I love that your hair is tied in the manner of the vortex on each side of your face and joining on the back :)

I hope that you have a better day on Thursday! Tonight, I asked the big guy upstairs again to help to get better soon. 🙏🏻♥️

That's the coolest thing that i ever seen.

"I've been told that yellow's not the best color for a pool." It took me 8 years to get that joke.

Fascinating, thank you !

Would this be similar to wake turbulence created by large aircraft on approach to airports?

You are my science/physics teacher!

2:26 the food dye 😂😂

When we see the colors mix, it almost looks like some kind of mobieus effect, one long tube that inverts and envelops itself. Like those watersnake toys.

you can buy small vortex ring shooters for the pool that trap air in them, letting you shoot doughnut shaped bubbles underwater