[Geysers] Geyser model

[Paul Deming]

Bruce, I'd really like to see pictures.  My daughter loved the geysers this year, and watches the cam almost every day.  She wants to build a geyser for a science fair.  

Thanks
Long time lurker -  Paul

----- Original Message ----
From: Bruce Jensen <bpnjensen at yahoo.com>
To: Geyser Observation Reports <geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 9:49:24 AM
Subject: RE: [Geysers] Geyser model


Regarding Linda Strasser's geyser described by Paul below - My son and
 I
built a geyser model a few years ago that sounds very similar to Paul's
and Linda's.  We used a 1,000ml flask, flat-bottomed of Pyrex
(borosilicate) glass, using a tight-fitting rubber stopper and
approximately 1 meter of copper tubing that fits very tightly in the
stopper.  (We ha doriginally hoped to use a glass tube as recommended
 by
some sources so the water column could be seen inside the vent, but we
compromised on what we thought would be a sturdier assembly).  The
 flask
set on an aluminum heat dispersion pad atop a Coleman-type propane
 stove
(I think a white gas stove would be better - the propane burns just a
little too *hot*).

The top of the copper tube was supported by a tripod that we had built
 of
crutches and a wooden slab that we had originally built to support a
 small
telescope - but I think any photographic tripod with a removable center
shaft might do well. On top, we made a water pool from a
 Tupperware-type
plastic container with a hole in the bottom center, held watretight
 using
some good wads of plumber's putty.  The container was supported at the
right height above the tripod platform using wooden shims.

In ordet the get maximum water volume without emptying the flask
 totally,
we kept the bottom of the tube about 1/2 inch above the inner base of
 the
flask.

We never started with an empty copper tube; we always kept it ful ot
 the
top, and depending on whether we wanted to simulate a fountain geyser
 or a
cone geyser, we would also fill the tupperware container with water or
leave it empty.

In any case, after the water would heat to near boiling, a gentle
 overflow
would begin at the top into the container.  As the water slowly poured
out, the steam bubble formation in the flask would become more rapid
 and
the gentle pour would occasionally splash.  After several seconds of
 this,
the splash would grow quickly to a full spray of water upward.  The
 flask
and water column provided enough volume for a ten-second or so full
 play,
raging from perhaps 8-12 inches high for the "fountain" geyser to a
 full
eight - ten feet above the basin for an unimpeded "cone" play.

Either way most of the played water would be caught in the tupperware
container.  Because our flask set almost directly on the fire, at the
 end
of play (to avoid so much heat on a nearly dry vessel) we would turn
 down
the flame.  The water in the tupperware would slowly get sucked back
 onto
the flask for another go.  If some additional cool water were added to
 the
tupperware basin, this last part of the process could be hastened.

When we do this again, we would place some boiling marbles within the
Pyrex flask to help maintain flask integrity - our flask developed some
tiny radial cracks all around the outer rim, and we have been told that
these little marbles can help solve that problem.  Nonetheless, the
 flask,
under pressure, did not shatter or even leak.

We have some photographs if folks would care to see them.

Bruce Jensen
************

--- Paul Strasser <upperbasin at comcast.net> wrote:

> The one Linda did in the 3rd grade worked very well.
> 
> A 1000 ml Erlenmeyer flask with a stopper - the kind that has the
 small
> hole
> in it.  Go to Office Depot and get copper tubing that will just
 barely,
> and
> with great effort, fit through the hole.  To the top of the tube she
> attached a metal funnel (with epoxy, as I recall)  And on top of the
> funnel
> she attached - again with epoxy - a flat piece of wood about 2 feet
> square
> or so with a circular hole in the middle about the size of the top of
> the
> funnel.  The funnel and wood were attached again with epoxy for zero
> leaks.
> 
> The flask, tube, and "basin" were, all told, a couple of feet high.
> 
> Yes, it's top heavy you need to figure out how to hold them in place.
  
> 
> She then got some bondo type substance - I really don't recall - that
> was
> heat-resistant when hard and she fashioned a nice little gently
 sloping
> pool
> around the hole about a foot wide, with a higher rim to keep the
 water
> from
> drooling out.
> 
> We filled the flask with water (by pouring it down the funnel, put it
 on
> an
> electric heater, put an barrier of towels or whatnot between the two,
> and
> turned on the heat.
> 
> It was fascinating how minor changes in the plumbing (for instance,
 how
> high
> above the bottom of the flask did you place the bottom of the tubing,
 or
> did
> you curl the tube once or twice before it went straight up, etc.)
> affected
> eruptions.
> 
> aFter a few minutes of heating the water would slowly rise. When it
 got
> to
> the top and began to fill the basin it would erupt.  After a few
 seconds
> of
> splashing it would drain quickly.  If you found a nice equilibrium it
> would
> repeat, again and again, until the water evaporated/splashed. By
 adding
> a
> little bit after each five or so eruptions it just kept going.  Max
> height
> was maybe 4-6 inches.
> 
> Think a really tiny Anenome.
> 
> I know of others who have created rather larger versions...
> 
> Paul Strasser
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu
> [mailto:geysers-bounces at lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Karen Webb
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 12:12 PM
> To: geysers at lists.wallawalla.edu
> Subject: [Geysers] Geyser model
> 
> Hi gang:
>     One computer crash ago, I had logged several variants of working 
> geyser models that had been posted on the list.  My son is now doing
 an 
> earth science unit, and his teacher has been nice enough to give me
 the 
> excuse I've always wanted to build one of the silly things.  But
 oops! 
> that info went down the drain, up the tubes, and out the window with
 my 
> last destructive re-install.  Has anyone still got any of this info?
  I 
> thought I remembered one variant that actually built a working 
> fountain-type geyser that would erupt every few minutes if you kept
 the 
> water reservoir hot and wasn't extremely hard to build.
> Karen Webb
> 
> -- 
> Step out of Thy holy chamber, O Maid of Heaven... Drape thyself...in
 the
> silken
> Vesture of Immortality, and put on, in the name of  the All-Glorious,
> the
> broidered
> Robe of Light.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
>
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