how do self-filling/gravity fed pet water bowls not overflow and spill everywhere?
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The atmosphere is actually quite heavy. We just don’t notice because we’re used to it and are also pressurized from the inside. If you lie on your back, there’s around a ton of air sitting on your chest at sea level.
Those self filling pet bowls usually are just a bottle of water attached to a dish. The water runs out and air bubbles up inside of the container until the level of the water covers the bottom of the nozzle. At that point the atmosphere is pushing down on that puddle of water keeping it from rising and there’s no path for air to get inside the bottle. The weight of the water in the bottle is nowhere near enough to overcome that pressure so it stops flowing.
I forget the exact numbers but in order for the water to flow out of a 2-liter sized bottle, the bottle would have to be something like hundreds of feet tall or something (don’t quote me on that number) for the weight of the water to be enough to force its way out. Or, if you just poke a hole in the top of the bottle, the atmosphere can flow in from that side and then the water will in fact drain out to an even level.
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