[Geysers] Geyser model

[Jeff Cross]

I will add a few things to the posts that have been written about model geysers.

1) Glass models are nice because you can see the steam bubbles inside the flask.
2) Glass is very brittle.
3) Glass is most likely to break at the very end of the eruption.  If you have a funnel on top of the geyser, the cool water in the funnel will get sucked back into the reservoir after the eruption ends.  The thermal shock of this cold water on the hot reservoir flask can cause the flask to shatter.  Putting boiling stones in the reservoir flask will not prevent this from happening.

To avoid this problem, we have used metal containers for most of our models.  You can get some 2" pipe at the hardware store.  Get the right pieces to make a T or L-shaped reservoir.  Get some reducers and put a 4-foot long standpipe on the model, maybe 1/2 or 3/8 inch diameter.  The geyser will need supports of some kind.  Try tying it to a ladder or something stable.

Jeff Cross
Jeff.cross at wallawalla.edu