You probably wouldn’t think a wedding or other celebration would be a good place to do a physics experiment. But it turns out they have a lot more in common with rocket science than you probably think.
At least a recent article accepted for publication in the American Institute of Physics journal Physics of Fluids shows this. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, the researchers uncovered a dramatic array of supersonic shock waves that form, evolve and dissipate at supersonic speeds within the first millisecond after a champagne bottle is opened.
“Behind the iconic explosion that accompanies the opening of the stopper of a champagne bottle, a gas flow of astonishing complexity is hidden,” the authors continue.
The moment of opening the cork stopper is a simple process for us with our low image quality, which involves pulling the plug and keeping the bubbles away from people’s faces. But super high speed imaging
Initially, the gas mixture inside the bottle is prevented from escaping by the cork, but when we release the stopper, a crown-shaped shock wave of gas shoots out from around the plug at around 1,500 kilometers per hour. manages to exceed its speed. Waves, come together It creates a phenomenon known as target shock diamonds.
About two-thirds of a millisecond later, a completely different shock wave emerges. Although at this point the cork has moved far enough from the bottle to allow a cylindrical rather than radial flow of gas, it is not yet far enough away to actually get the gas out of the way. And when that happens, we encounter an event called an independent shock wave or bow shock. These are the kind of shockwaves more often associated with projectiles and cosmic events than with celebratory drinks.
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