Bernoulli's Principle and Air Pressure

Vocabulary flashcards covering Daniel Bernoulli, the nature of air molecules, and Bernoulli's principle as demonstrated with a ping pong ball.

Daniel Bernoulli

A Swiss scientist from the seventeen hundreds who studied air pressure.

Air

A gas made up of teensy tiny molecules that are constantly moving around.

Bernoulli's principle

The scientific principle stating that the faster air molecules move, the lower the air pressure, and the slower they move, the higher the air pressure.

Low air pressure pocket (in the straw demonstration)

A region created when fast-moving air blown through a bendy straw curves around all sides of a ping pong ball.

Surrounding air (in the straw demonstration)

The slower-moving, higher-pressure air that forces the ping pong ball back into the low-pressure system whenever it tries to pop out, causing it to levitate.