Mass of an Air Cannon Vortex

Abstract

In 2005 Paul McKeag, conducted a series of experiments on vortex rings in air. Video of an air vortex traveling through air over a distance of four meters was analyzed using Logger Pro to find the velocity of the vortex as a function of the distance traveled. In a separate series of measurements, the impulse delivered to a force plate by a vortex at different distances was measured and the result was used (with the velocity-distance data) to find the mass of the vortex as a function of distance.