I’ve always wondered why the shower curtain moves towards me when the shower head is wall mounted. But when the shower head is handheld and close to my body, the shower curtain doesn’t move towards me? Does this have something to do with the water molecules attracting something in the air or curtain material?
In: Chemistry
Could be bernoullis principle ?
The movement of the air creates a lower pressure system inside the shower vs outside it… bc of that pressure gradient, the curtain moves a bit towards the lower pressure side.
The hot water heats up the air
Hot air rises, escaping out of the shower above the curtain.
The exiting hot air needs to be replaced
So cold air flows in at the bottom of the curtain, pushing the curtain towards you
The short answer is we don’t know for certain. But we have a lot of potentially good ideas, and you’re not the first person to ask
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shower-curtain_effect?wprov=sfla1
I don’t have a link, but I read a study some years ago that explains it!
As the water falls from the shower head, it brings some of the air there with it. This causes an area of lower pressure just below the showerhead. Other air has to rush in to replace that which is blown down by the falling water; as this air rushes in, it sucks the shower curtain in.
I remember reading this many years ago in a book I was reading at an airport when I met my wife.
https://www.straightdope.com/21342516/why-does-the-shower-curtain-blow-in-despite-the-water-pushing-it-out-revisited
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