Question

Roofs are sometimes pushed off vertically during a tropical cyclone, and buildings sometimes explode outward when hit by a tornado. Use Bernoulli’s principle to explain these phenomena.

a) Increased pressure inside buildings
b) Decreased pressure outside buildings
c) Bernoulli's principle is irrelevant
d) Tornadoes and cyclones have no impact on buildings

Answer 1

Roofs are pushed off vertically during tropical cyclones and buildings explode outward in tornadoes due to the pressure difference caused by the strong winds. Bernoulli's principle explains the phenomenon by stating that as the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases.

Step-by-step explanation:

In both tropical cyclones and tornadoes, the strong winds create a significant pressure difference between the inside and outside of the buildings. This pressure difference can be explained using Bernoulli's principle, which states that as the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases.

During a tropical cyclone, the strong winds can cause the air pressure outside the building to decrease. At the same time, the wind blowing over the roof creates an area of low pressure on top of the roof, causing the roof to be pushed off vertically.

Similarly, in a tornado, the rapidly rotating winds create a low-pressure area in the center of the tornado. As the tornado passes over a building, the low-pressure area can cause the building to explode outward.