how does a tornado work?
In: Planetary Science
When you drain a bathtub, gravity pulls the water down the drain because water is more dense than the air in the drain pipe. The draining water creates a funnel of spinning water because as the water goes down the drain, the air in the pipe needs a way to escape. The spinning funnel has a hole in the center that allows the air to move up.
For tornadoes, sometimes you end up with a weird weather situation where a layer of cold air sits on top of a layer of hot air. Cold air is denser than hot air so it wants to sink below the hot air. The fastest way for that to happen is the same way water drains out of a bathtub — a spinning funnel of fat moving air.
Fun experiment. Take a 2 liter bottle and fill it with water. Turn it upside down and see how long it takes to bubble and gurgle as it empties.
Fill it up again and this time give the bottle a little swirl so the water is spinning slightly as you turn it over. The water will create a little funnel and drain out quicker.
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