The XLERATOR the Ferrari of public bathroom, uses a 5/8 HP motor, and blows at 16,000 linear feet per minute, over 180 mph! It's even the Official Hand Dryer for the New England Patriots.
And it just looks sexy, in a steam punk kinda way.
But that's not why I'm talking about it.
The XLERATOR is green certified by various agencies, not something I spend a whole lot of time worrying about, but if you want to be green certified, you need to cut your watts down somewhere. The machine uses a 900W heating element, but it also uses a thermostat--the air temperature is controlled, and tops at 135°F where your hands should be.
This matters--you can play without frying yourself. [WARNING: the temp gets a bit warmer when you put your hands right at the vent--if you feel your hands frying, pull them away...]
If you push your hand right up to the vent while it's blasting a few zillion air particles, you'll reach a point where your hand suddenly gets pushed towards the vent, Bernoulli's principle in action! This amazes me every single time, and is enough excuse to make a pit stop just because...
You can't, of course, drag a whole class of kids into the men's room, at least not more than once. But you can do this.
- Grab a spool of thread--we usually have about 9 of them attempting to mate in the junk drawer. If no one sews in your home anymore, go to grandma--she'll have a few.
- Stick a short pin through a file card, then guide the pin into the hole in the center of the spool.
- While still holding the index card, face the floor and start blowing hard through the spool opening.
- Let go of the index card.
- Be amazed.
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| From Mr. Right's Amazing But Simple Science Experiments series on English Sabla |
If you're in a pinch for a class demo, you can simply hold up two strips of paper and challenge a kid to blow them apart--the harder the child tries, the closer the tighter the strips cling together.
For the record, paper towels are more sanitary, and you can use them to open the bathroom door if you're particularly worried about folks like me. I've become quite cozy with our prokaryotic friends, and worry more about Eli Manning's QB rating than I do about bathroom bacteria.
No, you are not allowed to comment about Bernoulli's principle and airplanes--
I know it's not just Bernoulli's forces that allows planes to fly. Go find a physics forum.
Don't get me started on anti-bacterial everything....