Cecil,
I just read the whole chain on the ‘shower curtain thing’ David Schmidt’s article on Scientific American ( http://www.sciam.com/askexpert/physics/physics62/index.html
) and I believe that there are more than a few problems with the esteemed Professor Schmidt’s simulation and conclusions. While Mr. Schmidt’s conclusions may have some merit when one is using a (god, how environmentally evil!) shower that flows at the rate of 8 gallons a minute, I know from experiment that with a 2 gallon-per-minute water-saving showerhead the curtain doesn’t pull in when a cold shower is run, yet it certainly does with a hot shower. This would suggest, I believe, that the ‘chimney effect’ is better able to explain the curtain pulling in at least this circumstance. In addition, Mr. Schmidts model leaves out one very important factor that I believe ( though it’s certainly open to some debate) pretty much screws up the ‘vortex’ theory. If you see the illustration from his article you will note that the vortex is centered on the volume that would have been occupied by the person taking the shower (and against whose legs the alleged curtain is blowing). This presence would so disturb the airflow that the the vortex would most likely fail to form or at least fail to be sustained or regular( particularly with my piddly little shower-head). Do you think that the questions I’ve raised here have merit ( that there might actually be another or, at least more than one, model to explain this better)? Maybe Mr. Schmidt would like to address this and see if the missing body has any reasonable impact on his model. ( and maybe get him to stop wasting so much water!)
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment.
Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site.
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Cecil’s columns can be found on-line at these links:
Why does the shower curtain blow up and in instead of down and out? (7-Jun-1985)
Why does the shower curtain blow in despite the water pushing it out (revisited)? (10-Aug-2001)
moderator, «Comments on Cecil’s Columns»
Hey, Arnold Winkelried, that’s my job!
:ducks and runs:
(quietly adding KneadToKnow to my little list - he never will be missed)
bmccready, I don’t have any commentary to add to your suggestion except that to say that the shower curtain issue is soon going to match the “whole nine yards” subject as one of the most-discussed issues in this forum. Physics was never my strong suit, and when I read the theories and counter-theories I get confused. But here are some previous discussions:
New findings on shower curtain question
:sings:
I’m on Arnold’s list
I’m on Arnold’s list
Wait … that is good, isn’t it?
