For decades scientists have been trying to solve Feynman's Sprinkler Problem: How does a sprinkler running in reverse—in which the water flows into the device rather than out of it—work? Through a ...

For 141 years, physicists like Richard Feynman have puzzled over a question of fluid flow: how would a sprinkler rotate if it were underwater, sucking in the stuff instead of spewing it? Now, a team ...

Light-scattering microparticles reveal the flow pattern for the reverse (sucking) mode of a sprinkler, showing vortices and complex flow patterns forming inside the central chamber. Credit: K. Wang et ...

For decades scientists have been trying to solve Feynman's Sprinkler Problem: How does a sprinkler running in reverse work? Through a series of experiments, a team of mathematicians has figured out ...

The image illustrates the experimental set-up: (a) Cut-away schematic of the floating sprinkler, (b) Flow control apparatus operating in suction mode, and (c) Flow imaging with a laser sheet ...