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What's Happening?
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Observations
Did the lower glass fill up with water? When you switched the levels of the beakers, did the water run into the
first beaker? As you watched,
did the levels of water in each beaker even out when they where both set on the same level?
What is happening?
When both legs of the siphon are full, because of gravity, the hydrostatic force (the force of
the water) is greater on the higher side of the tube.
This means the liquid will move up the lower leg of the tube, over the rim of the
beaker and into the lower beaker. Once started the flow will continue
until the water levels are equal. Then the hydrostatic forces on each leg of the
tube will also be equal.
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What's Happening?
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