Why does my shower curtain attack me

Upgrade your curtain liner. Lightweight, inexpensive shower curtain liners are more likely to blow in than thicker versions. Look for a heavyweight liner while shopping. Install a curved shower curtain rod. A curved rod will keep the curtain farther away from the water, making it less likely to get drawn in.

Grab a suction cup and binder clip. If you don't have a tub around your shower to stick magnets to, try suction cups. On each side of the shower opening attach a suction cup to your shower wall. Disclosure: All of that is an exaggeration. But the shower curtain effect did have some advocates with disparate theories, and one man finally had enough free time to tackle the subject with a computer model.

But before we get to the actual cause, let's talk about the two most popular hypotheses for the shower curtain effect. Although they both would make great titles for the "Bourne Identity" franchise, they are both wrong. For one, the Bernoulli principle doesn't address the kind of droplets we'd find in a shower. The buoyancy theory sounds great -- until you realize that the curtain billows in on a cold shower, as well.

This is where our hero comes into the story. An assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in , David Schmidt stood up to the Bernoulli and buoyancy bullies. Schmidt created a model for the bathtub and ran a simulation for two weeks that recreated 30 seconds of shower time. The second-most famous "eureka" moment to come out of a bathtub occurred when Schmidt saw that as the droplets decelerate, they transfer energy to the air around the bathtub, creating a swirling, twirling sideways vortex.

Others believed the liner was acting as a result of Bernoulli's principle , which states that air pressure around fluid decreases when the fluid is moving quickly. With a difference in air pressure inside and outside the tub, the liner will move. In , someone finally had the means and motivation to examine this theory more closely.

David Schmidt, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, used computer software developed to examine fluid spray to assist in diesel and aircraft engines to put Bernoulli's theory to the test.

This being , it took his home PC two weeks to run the simulation, which Schmidt programmed to replicate a typical shower rod, curtain, liner, shower head. Schmidt found that the shower spray created a vortex with a low-pressure region—a little like the center of a cyclone. The low-pressure region at the center of this horizontal vortex pulls the shower curtain inward. Schmidt advises that you sew weights in the bottom of your shower curtain liner. If you have a metal tub, take advantage of the liners with magnets to hold the shower curtain down.

And don't be afraid to spend some money on your shower curtain liner. The cheapest liners are often the thinnest and lightest, leaving you susceptible to curtain cling. Curved shower rods also get the job done. Don't suffer through your showers any longer. Create the shower space you wish to see in the world. News U.