A lava lamp and a Nexus One tested under 3 Gs of force (video)
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 8th 2010 9:44AM
posted March 8th 2010 9:44AM
posted March 8th 2010 9:44AM
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The swirling as a consequence of coriolis-force?
@jankees
do the math and figure it out! I'll get you started...
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/CoriolisAcceleration.html
(don't worry about those cross products, just assume everything is perpendicular and treat it as multiplication).
estimate the radius of the contraption (1.5-2m?) and calculate the angular velocity needed to create 3g, that will give you the fewest assumptions. (a=v^2/r).
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/CentrifugalForce.html
Make a guess at the rate those bubbles are moving radially (up and down in the lamp) (.05m/sec?) you could even use the N1 screen as a true reference but we are just ballparking here. Plug and play into the first equation. If you get something within an order of magnitude of g then maybe so, but if not, then probably not.
My guess is no but I didn't run the numbers. Go put ice cubes in a glass of water and spin. You will notice that from your point of view they water "spins" for a while in the cup. The issue is that you are rotating the object itself as you revolve it around your center....and since the fluid and container are not rigidly connected, it takes a bit for friction to get the fluid "up to speed" So this is probably not a good experiment anyway since the radius if his 3g machine is so small compared to jupiter that other concerns are rased. He needs to put it on a rocket which accelerates linearly for long enough to video the lamp.... just saying, if a nerd's gonna go all the way, might as well.
patmo141> He needs to put it on a rocket which accelerates linearly for long enough to video the lamp
oh don't you tempt that guy! you saw clearly he's on the brink of actually building anything ;))
The 2G limit is likely down to the mode that the accelerometer is running in - in the nexus one, it is digitally switchable between 2, 4 and 8g ranges to give you the best accuracy depending on application.
See: http://www.bosch-sensortec.com/content/language1/downloads/BMA150_DataSheet_Rev.1.5_30May2008.pdf
Whatever said.....I Love to know the results of these random tests!
No, the lava lamp wouldn't work, cuz Jupiters average estimated temp is -238• F... So, dumb and unnecessary experiment. Lol
@Bakerdk
yeh quoted from the big bang theory
"cos we can"
its why geeks do everything :D
@Bakerdk
rofl... good point. you just pwned this guys week long waste of an experiment.
@Bakerdk
Why was this downranked? It is a completely valid point...the liquid would flash freeze and the container would shatter....therefore rendering the experiment pointless!
I guess there's pretty bad T-Mo coverage up there on Jupiter tho.
@Kopfgeldjaeger How is that different from any other planet?
@drewcp
I understand there's pretty good coverage on Ura...oh nevermind, that's a terrible joke
OK, can someone enlighten me as to how he kept the power cord on the lava lamp from getting all twisted up?
@Bosco
With Science!
@Bosco He wired it through a 3.5mm audio connector
@Bosco
3 possible choices i see.
1. Battery operated
2. (forgetting the proper name of this..) one of those boxes that runs on a battery that you can plug into for emergency power or to run say a laptop away from a power source.
3. Lava lamp was ran for a long time to heat up and then unplugged for the 30 second test that was ran... which wouldn't be long enough to affect the results.
@schultz
You are referring to a UPS. Those work.
Droid does
Meh. Experimental science is for people who can't do the math. The swirl from the coriolis force screws up the lava lampiness and actually invalidates the experiment. You'll note there's no conclusion mentioned - clearly the guy just wants a research grant to fly to Jupiter to test for reals.
@kibi
Did you do the math (hopefully jankees will get back to us)? Is coriolis responsible for that...I don't think so. That swirl is from startup. Look at 1:40 when it has died out, there is very little rotation in the fluid (in this reference frame). I agree that the experiment is flawed, but if we treated all of life like that, we would have very boring lives and probably never have hooked up with that chick who was waay to hot. Math is great, but assumptions separate math and reality. And you know what they say about assumptions....
@patmo141 ah, so that's why I only hook up with ugly chicks, because I carefully follow the scientific process. thanks!
@Kibi That's the kind of thinking that gave us 2000 years of stagnation in the form of religion and "philosophy". After the mathematicians and philosophers (often the same people), it took science centuries to rediscover things that were known before Roman times but lost. Math can predict, math can confirm, but math cannot prove. Only experimental science can really settle an argument. Math is just mental masturbation. :)
...but does it blend?
Schaweet! Wanted the lava lamp to pop.
I viewed that video much like Milhouse watched the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon introducing Poochy and also wondered"WHEN ARE THEY GONNA GET TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY??"
each bubble gets as much floating force as the weight of the liquid it displaces. because both the weight of the bubble and that of the liquid increase at the same ratio, the lamp still works...it's archimedes' law
2.5 G on Jupiter? I thought it was a lot more.. Seems like you can still bring your lava lamp to your home in Jupiter. Good to know.
I guess the two liquids are being pulled by gravity with an equal factor, creating very similar conditions between the two liquids as in any gravity.
The question is, will it work in space?
I challenge you to build an antigravity machine in your living room and find out. ;-)
@palegolas You have to have gravity otherwise the density of the wax vs the density of the medium it's in will not matter. You'd just have a gradual transition from hot to cold because of the lamp.
At least, that's my first thought on that.
254% to be precise.
I wanted the Lava lamp to explode or something the whole time :*(
Was thinking 2.5 gs is too little to force hydrogen to it's liquid form unless it's A couple Kelvin above absolute zero. And Jupiter with it's storms and tidal forces should be hotter then that
its a shame they put all that work into it and placed the lava lamp at the wrong angle to get an acurate result .. the G forces should have been pulling down toward the base, not out to the side of the lamp.
@kingoffools
the carriage can swing so it will always be aligned with the net force vector....so its all good. See 0:52
Its good to know that if space hippies decide to settle there their lava lamps will still work.
Wow.
Looking at that and at that "Machine built of Legos Defeats Rubic cube" story from a couple of weeks ago:
Damn did I ever waste my time as a kid only "Playing" with my Legos and Technics kits. When I could have been making cool useless stuff like this instead!
Erector set, lava lamp, electricity, Nexus One, G-meter app...feels like something's missing. Oh yeah, Riverdance soundtrack. Now we're set.
if there would be "you spin me right round" as backround music,i would lolled hard
Now I'd like to see him place a phone call while that thing is under 3 Gs of force! Hook it up on Bluetooth and see if it dials out!
Can anyone tell me the name of the toy with which he build the instrument?
When i was little, i had that toy too! (like lego.... very interesting)
@XavierDU
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it mainly made of an "Erector Set", or perhaps several of them.
@Commodorksixtyfork Thanks a lot!!! that's exactly what i want to know! erector set!
coolio
This video need 100% more kittens.
I guess the N1 best use when you're on a roller coaster. Nothing screams like surfing the web while rolling down 90mph turn.
At one point the Nexus One couldn't even handle T-Mobile's 3G's ;)
I though the gravity on Jupiter would crush a person? And now I find out it's only 2.5g that will not crush a healthy person just wear you out faster.
Suddenly, I miss my Erector set.