Centrifugal Instability
Channel: ucla spinlab
Date: 2020-08-02

This movie shows examples of centrifugal instability in a 20 cm diameter by 20 cm deep cylindrical tank of water situated on a DJ turntable.  We spin up the tank of water so that all the water is in solid body rotation.  Then we slow down the rotation rate.  The fluid adjacent to the tank boundaries slows with the tank and the interior fluid maintains its original speed. The faster interior fluid then centrifuges its way outwards into the slowly fluid on the sidewall.  The occurs in the form of centrifugal rolls. The rheoscopic fluid that is added to the water allows this instability to be nicely visualized.