Fountain Bench - A Hydraulic Apparatus for Formal and Informal Science Education

The Fountain Bench is a new modularized and portable apparatus that has been developed and put to use for the purpose of demonstrating several water flow cases.The goals of using the apparatus are to enhance presentation of course material in a Fluid Mechanics course and to assist in informal education provided to younger students and the general public attending university events.Three flow cases developed so far are a bathtub vortex, a water bell, and a wet wall, but more can be added later.Each of these demonstrations has scientific significance but also has been used by artists as the focal point in water features with special effects.This paper provides a detailed description of the apparatus and examples of how it has been used so that interested readers can build the apparatus for their own use.The materials and equipment cost $1600.