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Mathematicians Show Why Bubbles Sink in Nitrogen-Infused Stouts

Posted by Unknown on from the don't-get-caught-in-the-beer-vortex dept.

SicariusMan writes "The age old question: do Guinness and other stouts' bubbles really sink, or is it an optical illusion? Well, some mathematicians have figured it out." Full paper via arXiv; From the article: "To analyze the effect of different glass shapes, the mathematicians modeled Guinness beer containing randomly distributed bubbles in both a pint glass and an anti-pint glass (i.e., an upside-down pint). An elongated swirling vortex forms in both glasses, but in the anti-pint glass the vortex rotates in the opposite direction, causing an upward flow of fluid and bubbles near the wall of the glass."

8 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. Now that I know the theory by cristiroma · · Score: 5, Funny

    Allow me to practice ...

  2. late to the party by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Australians figured it out 12 years ago

    http://science.slashdot.org/story/00/01/11/2156213/why-bubbles-in-guinness-fall

    1. Re:late to the party by NatasRevol · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but the new research had to make sure it wasn't the Coriolis force!

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
  3. American fluid dynamicists did it first! by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 4, Informative

    Twelve years ago an almost identical paper was on the office wall of a chemical engineering professor I had in college. I'm mostly kidding with my subject line - I expect there's novelty in the new paper and just want to point out that this has been used as a model system (probably many times) before now.

    --
    "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
  4. Mythbusters by goodmanj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Mythbusters (accidentally) did it first.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4YeP7e0tPE&t=190

  5. party pooper by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's an astout observation!

    Hence, no stout for you, mister. ;)

  6. DO NOT by Fned · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...I repeat DO NOT touch a pint glass and an anti-pint glass during a toast.

    That is all.

  7. Negative ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall. by neoshroom · · Score: 5, Funny

    in the anti-pint glass the vortex rotates in the opposite direction, causing an upward flow of fluid and bubbles near the wall of the glass

    Just don't drink too many anti-pints of beer. I tried it once and woke up with a hell of a hangunder.

    --
    Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.