Dancing Water - A Tibetan Mystery

At this year's Christmas party in my sister's house, we came across a nice metal bowl sitting on the table by the entrance. My sister came back from an extensive trip to India and Tibet last year and brought with her this metal object as a souvenir.

This copper bowl gracing the hallway to the house is no ordinary object.

The piece is composed of two parts. A copper bowl and a wooden mallet covered in felt.

Eagerly, my sister wanted to demonstrate what this extraordinary metal bowl could do. Carrying this bowl to the kitchen, she filled this it half way with water from the tap. Then she brought it back to the dining room table and demonstrated to us what it could do.












Taking this wooden mallet in her hand, she slowly went around the outer edge of the bowl with this mallet. Gradually as the speed of the movement of the mallet picked up, the water in the bowl started vibrating gently. Then at a certain point, the water started to move faster and faster as if it were dancing!

The young people took turn trying their hands working with the mallet and produced the same result. It was interesting! There was no force or any other special instrument used to cause the water to dance splashing water droplets outside of the bowl.

I did  not understand the science behind this special bowl but it was interesting to see how the water could be moved by a certain frequency created by the mallet rubbing against the metal bowl.

I love learning about new thing and this was an ah ha moment for me!

R.T.
At My Sister's House
Richmond Hill
Ontario