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Bottle flipping was a trend that involved throwing a plastic bottle, typically partially full of liquid, into the air so that it rotates, in an attempt to land it upright on its base or cap. It became an international trend in the summer of 2016 with numerous videos of people attempting the activity being posted online. With its popularity, the repetitive thuds of multiple attempts have been criticized as a distraction and a public nuisance. Parents and teachers have expressed frustration at the practice, resulting in water bottle flipping being banned at several schools around the world, as well as many people calling for the practice to only be performed in private.
The Physics of Bottle-Flipping
at Scientific American
The Water Bottle Flip
at Institute of Physics {{Challenges 2010s fads and trends Internet culture Internet memes introduced in 2016 Bottled water Internet memes Viral videos
Bottle flipping was a trend that involved throwing a plastic bottle, typically partially full of liquid, into the air so that it rotates, in an attempt to land it upright on its base or cap. It became an international trend in the summer of 2016 with numerous videos of people attempting the activity being posted online. With its popularity, the repetitive thuds of multiple attempts have been criticized as a distraction and a public nuisance. Parents and teachers have expressed frustration at the practice, resulting in water bottle flipping being banned at several schools around the world, as well as many people calling for the practice to only be performed in private.
History
In 2016, a viral video of teenager Mike Senatore, flipping a water bottle at a talent show at Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, popularized the activity.Description
Water bottle flipping involves taking a plastic water bottle that is partially empty and holding it by the neck of the bottle. Force is applied with a flick, with the bottom of the bottle rotating away from the person. If performed successfully, the bottle will land upright. Additionally, the bottle may land upside-down, or on its cap. Doing this is significantly more difficult than flipping a bottle so it lands upright. The amount of fluid in the bottle greatly influences the success of the feat, and it has been shown empirically that filling the bottle about one-third of the way improves the rate of success. The type of water bottle also plays a role; for instance, the brandDeer Park Spring Water
Deer Park is an American brand of bottled water of natural spring origin from BlueTriton Brands, produced and marketed primarily across the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
History
Following the American ...
has been noted to make the task easier due to its unique hourglass shape with a third divot.
The feat is often performed with disposable plastic water bottles due to their availability, but other containers can be used as well. The bottle flip is often combined with the Dab
DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to:
Dictionaries
* ''Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies
* ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949
Places
* Dąb, ...
after a successful flip. The complex physics behind the activity incorporates concepts of fluid dynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...
, projectile motion, angular momentum, centripetal force
A centripetal force (from Latin ''centrum'', "center" and ''petere'', "to seek") is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous c ...
, and gravity. In 2018, a group of students and professors from the Netherlands developed a minimal model of the water bottle flip involving conservation of angular momentum and, most importantly, the redistribution of mass along the bottle. The model estimates that the best filling fractions for water flipping lie in the range between 20% and 40%.
Multiple mobile apps have been created to recreate the activity; the app "Bottle Flip 2k16" was downloaded 3 million times in the first month of its release.
See also
*List of viral videos
This is a partial list of viral videos, including those that are music videos, that gained rapid attention on the Internet. Like Internet memes, viewership of such videos tend to grow rapidly and become more widespread because of instant communi ...
*Internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
* Viral phenomenon
References
External links
The Physics of Bottle-Flipping
at Scientific American
The Water Bottle Flip
at Institute of Physics {{Challenges 2010s fads and trends Internet culture Internet memes introduced in 2016 Bottled water Internet memes Viral videos