• Question: Like when you run your finger through water, is there a small vacuum created behind a car that is going really fast???

    Asked by TH3 BAD45S M1DG3T to Jos, Kate, Lisa on 20 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Joshaniel Cooper

      Joshaniel Cooper answered on 20 Nov 2014:


      There is less air there, so there is a lower pressure, but there isn’t really a vacuum. Air moves at about 1100 miles per hour, so the car would have to be going VERY fast to create a vacuum (especially since the air can come in from the sides instead from behind.

    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 20 Nov 2014:


      You cause drag the same way that the car does when it goes through the air, but water is more viscous (thicker) so you get eddys and can see trapped air bubbles moving that you can’t really see in the air.

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