Why does the shower curtain blow into the bathtub, not out into the room?

Answer 1

There have been several competing theories about this, most citing the Bernoulli effect, which means that as a fluid accelerates, pressure drops, which is what happens over the wings of an airplane as it flies.

But in 2001, painstaking research was done by David Schmidt of the University of Massachusetts, using an elaborate computer model and a specialized software program from Fluent Inc. He found that such explanations neglected another phenomenon, which is the real culprit, he said.

Dr. Schmidt, a mechanical engineer who studies the computer modeling of sprays, based his calculations on the conditions in his mother-in-law's bathtub. He divided the study area into 50,000 tetrahedral cells, or pyramid-like structures, that would sense velocity and pressure in three dimensions, and simulated an 8-gallon-a-minute flow of water for 30 seconds.

According to two weeks' worth of calculations on his home computer, a shower's water droplets decelerate under the influence of aerodynamic drag, transferring energy to the bathtub's air, which begins to twist like a miniature hurricane turned on its side. As in the eye of a hurricane, or in a whirlwind, the pressure in the center of this disturbance is low, pulling the shower curtain into the bathtub..

Answer 2

Most likely the hot water heats the air which expands and rises and escapes over the top of the shower curtain. Cooler air replacing it pushes the curtain in. Try this yourself, once with hot water and once with cold water, and see how much difference this makes. Write up your ideas, what you read, what people tell you, and the details of your experiments and observations, and it could be a science fair project.

Answer 3

My guess is that the water spray pushes the air away in the bathtub, and creates a slight air vacuum. The air outside the bathtub (at a higher pressure) moves in to fill the vacuum.

Answer 4

The air is being plumped by the falling water.

Answer 5

when it hits the damp wall of the bath...it sticks!
simple

f xxx