Swirling wine makes unusual waves

Caitlin Stier, video intern

If you want to make waves, try swirling a glass of wine. Depending on the size of your glass, the speed at which you twirl it and the amount of liquid, you can generate dynamic wave patterns with either a single or multiple crests.

Now Martino Reclari and colleagues at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) are investigating the physics involved to produce models of the action. Over a bottle of wine, they filled different-sized cylinders with a cheap merlot and set them spinning on an industrial shaker. A high-speed camera monitored the centre of the containers to track the number of crests and breaking waves.?

By examining the factors at play, the team came up with a formula that predicts what type of waves will be generated. They found that three ratios affected the result: the diameter of the glass relative to the level of wine, the relationship between the diameter and width of rotation and the relative forces acting on the liquid. By tweaking the conditions while maintaining a given ratio, they were able to produce the same wave behaviour.

The new model should help researchers better understand how fluids mix. Since swirling aerates wine, it could also reveal the optimum wave conditions to transfer air to your glass of red.

The team presented their findings this week at the American Physical Society's fluid dynamics conference in Baltimore.

If you enjoyed this video, watch ants mimic liquids or see how to unmix a mixed fluid.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1a645d5b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cnstv0C20A110C110Cswirling0Ewine0Echurns0Eup0Eunique0Ewaves0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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