Uploaded February 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We mechanically generate vortices in a rotating tank of fluid. The vortices are forced by flipping an acrylic flap on the left hand side of the tank. The strong rotational effects produce nearly two-dimensional flows. This two-dimensionality fundamentally alters the behavior of the vortices. They now form large, coherent structures with little mixing of the different dye patches in the fluid. These vortices are qualitatively similar to those observed in the cloud layers of the Gas Giants, Jupiter and Saturn.
We mechanically generate vortices in a rotating tank of fluid. The vortices are forced by flipping an acrylic flap on the left hand side of the tank. The strong rotational effects produce nearly two-dimensional flows. This two-dimensionality fundamentally alters the behavior of the vortices. They now form large, coherent structures with little mixing of the different dye patches in the fluid. These vortices are qualitatively similar to those observed in the cloud layers of the Gas Giants, Jupiter and Saturn.
