Re: Clockwise Rotation of Fire Gases

[William Beaty <billb@ESKIMO.COM>]

On Mon, 13 Sep 1999, John D. Wiseman wrote:

> Both types of whirls are formed with about equal frequency, but as we
> watch them we will observe that those which circulate clockwise seem to
> draw themselves together tighter, whirl more rapidly and last a longer
> time than those that whirl to the left or counter-clockwise. This causes
> us to ask what characteristics of fire gases might cause right or
> clockwise whirlwinds to tighten up and be stronger than the left-hand
> whirls.

Very interesting!  The late Dr. Bernard Vonnegut was of the opinion that
tornados are electrical phenomena.  He was never able to find
incontrovertable evidence for this, and contemporary weather physicists
regard the whole idea as being extremely misguided (to say the least!)
Now here we have the beast raising its ugly head again!

:)

It is well known that the clear-weather vertical electric field is approx.
100V per meter, with earth negative and the sky positive.  (It's higher
when a large number of thunderstorms in Africa are present.)  A
low-altitude (earthbound)  source of +/- ions would cause the air to
become conductive, and then the "sky voltage" would lift negative ions
upwards and drive positive ions back down into the surface.  In a "fire
whirl", if negative ions are pushed into the vortex core and then lifted
upwards, while positive ions are flung away from the core, then the "sky
voltage" would power the vortex like some sort of electrostatic motor.
Near the core of the fire whirl, the fast-spinning cloud of negative ions
might experience a v x b force from the relatively vertical magnetic field
of the earth.  If this force is in a direction so as to push the negative
ions radially inwards, it might redistribute the vorticity and so aid the
"containment effect" which allows a strong, tight vortex to exist.


      Top view of 'Fire Whirl' Tornado

                      \
                      /
                                        Negative ions rotate clockwise and
                                        spiral slowly inwards


           /\                   \/


                                        Magnetic field points down into
                                        the ground in the N hemisphere
                      /
                      \

The left-hand rule does predict that a clockwise fire-whirl, a positive
sky, and a south-type magnetic pole in the ground will result in a
radially-inwards motor force.

>         Of course Bill Nelson recognizes that all these ideas about
> clockwise rotation of fire gases are purely speculative. I hope that
> some of you may be able to guide me to some research or published
> materials that will answer this question about clockwise rotation.


Yeah, the theory has a 50% chance of predicting that clockwise vortices
become robust... even if the theory is wrong!  :)


It's not hard to make a "fire whirl" by using a pool of burning liquid
(and maybe a small fan aimed tangentially to trigger the initial
rotation).  If the terminal of a VandeGraaff machine was suspended a few
feet above the top of the tornado, I wonder if the tornado would become
visibly tigher when the VDG machine was turned on?  (Depending upon the
sense of the whirl, the VDG polarity, and upon whether the lab was at a
high southern latitude, it might do the opposite.)

  Photo of a fire whirl  (Reelefx special effects website)
  http://www.reelefx.com/Tornado/firetube.htm

  Big tornado generator
  http://www.reelefx.com/Tornado/40footVolvo.htm

  Reelefx Tornado Page
  http://www.reelefx.com/Tornado/tornado.htm


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William J. Beaty                                  SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb@eskimo.com                                  http://www.amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits          science projects, tesla, weird science
Seattle, WA   206-781-3320          freenrg-L taoshum-L vortex-L webhead-L