Why Does the Modern Shower Curtain Move Inwards?
Have you ever noticed how your modern shower curtain pulls into the shower? That it seems to move towards the direction of the water, rather than away or staying inert, as one would expect? The cause of this strange phenomenon has puzzled scientists and, as yet, we have no definite conclusion. But here are some theories:
- Bouyancy theory. This theory states the the modern shower curtain is somewhat like a chimney. Warm air, when one takes a hot shower, rises out over it while cooler air, which stays near the floor of the shower, gets pushed down. The net effect is that the shower is moved inwards, in a way similar to how tornadoes move.
- Bernoulli’s effect theory. This theory is that idea that the water coming out of the shower head causes the air that the water is moving through to flow in the same direction as the water. This is parallel to the plane of the modern shower curtain. If air also happens to be moving along the surface of the curtain, than Bernoulli’s principle says that air pressure will drop. This creates a pressure differential, causing the inward movement. Interestingly, this would be that the effect is stronger when there is the smallest gap between the bather and the curtain.
- Horizontal vortex theory. This theory won the Ig Noble Prize for its partial solution by David Schmidt. Essentially he used a computer model of a typical bathroom to show that a shower head drives a horizontal vortex. This vortex has a low-press system at its center, which sucks the modern shower curtain in, causing the inward movement.
- The Coanda Effect. This is also known as boundary layer attachment and states that a fluid jet stream will be attracted to a nearby surface. In real life this has practical applications for flights, but it might also explain why the modern shower curtain moves–because the attraction of the boundary layer is pulling it inwards.
- Condensation theory. A hot shower produces steam that condenses on the shower side of the modern shower curtain, lowering the pressure on that side. If this condensation flow is steady the steam will be replaced with new steam, but in real life the temperature fluctuates, pulling the curtain inwards.
There are a lot of fun theories as to why the modern shower curtain pulls inwards and none has been proved. However, if you’re really concerned about it, I suggest buying a modern shower curtain that comes with weights in the bottom. This keeps in from going inwards too much and keeps you from getting tangled up in the curtain.
Zoe Holmes is a New York-based Midwesterner. Her own experiments with a modern shower curtain has led her believe that she might spend a little too much time thinking about this stuff.
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