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How a vortex cannon makes a ring of air
A cannon does not fire a solid object. It pushes a short pulse of air through a broad circular opening. As the pulse exits, its outer edge curls around; the surrounding air helps pinch the moving pulse into a toroidal vortex, or doughnut-shaped ring. The ring can travel as a coherent structure before turbulence breaks it apart.
Air is normally invisible, so a little fog or smoke inside the cannon can reveal the ring. A fog machine helps you see the flow; it does not create the vortex. Make: describes the airflow mechanism and both builds in Edwin Wise’s project, first published November 19, 2015, with July 15, 2022 also displayed on the page: Build a Simple Vortex Cannon, Then Upgrade with a Subwoofer.
Choose a build
| Build | Actuation and scale | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Trash-can cannon | Manual thump or pull-and-release membrane; 32-gallon can with a six-inch opening | Quick to assemble and easy to feel how the push shapes a ring. Fog makes the airflow easier to see. |
| Subwoofer-powered tube | Audio amplifier drives a 12-inch subwoofer attached to a 12-inch cardboard tube; outlet ring is four to six inches inside diameter | Allows repeated pulses from a signal source, but low-frequency response and waveform can be limited by the speaker, amplifier or software. |
| Cup-and-balloon activity | Hand-pulled balloon membrane on a disposable cup | Small educational activity that makes it easy to compare opening sizes and firing distances. |
The dimensions and settings above are project specifications, not a standardized performance comparison. The sources do not report a controlled test ranking the three designs by range or power.
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Build the manual trash-can cannon
Option 1: thump the lid
- Cut a six-inch circular hole in the bottom of a 32-gallon plastic trash can with a lid.
- Fill the can with fog from a party fogger if you want to see the air pulse.
- Set the can so the opening points toward a clear target area, then thump the lid to launch a ring.
Make: calls this a five-minute build, but repeated impacts can eventually crack the lid. Use controlled taps rather than striking it hard.
Option 2: use a flexible diaphragm
- Gather the center of a trash bag or tarp around a ball and tie it with a small bungee cord to form a knob.
- Tape the flexible material around the top of the can, leaving slack, with the knob centered over the opening.
- Stretch a larger bungee cord across the can’s handles. Pull the knob back and release it to send a pulse through the bottom aperture.
A light pull produces a slower vortex; a harder pull makes a faster but less stable one, according to the Make: project. It also notes that a larger opening produces larger, slower vortices. These are qualitative observations, not guaranteed range or speed figures.
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Upgrade to the subwoofer-powered Barking Tube
The powered version replaces the hand-driven membrane with a speaker cone. It uses a 12-inch-diameter cardboard tube, a 12-inch subwoofer, an audio amplifier, a signal source, and a plywood or foam outlet ring with an inside diameter of four to six inches. Make: does not specify a subwoofer model, impedance, power rating or amplifier model, so check the electrical requirements of the actual equipment rather than assuming compatibility.
- Fit the subwoofer into one end of the cardboard tube and secure it with tape.
- Make an exhaust ring from plywood or foam, keeping its inside diameter between four and six inches, and glue and tape it to the outlet.
- Connect the speaker to an audio amplifier, then connect the amplifier to an audio source. The project author used a laptop running NCH Tone Generator.
- Try a sawtooth wave between 1 Hz and 10 Hz, adjusting the frequency to find a pulse rate at which separate rings remain visible.
If the rings blur together, the pulses are arriving too quickly for distinct structures to form. In the author’s setup, a speaker did not follow an intended custom waveform that would slowly draw the cone back before a shaped forward pulse; the computer synthesizer or amplifier filtered much of the very-low-frequency signal and distorted it. Regular sawtooth waves worked in that build. Results depend on the specific speaker, amplifier and signal chain.
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Try the smaller cup-and-balloon activity
For a lower-scale classroom or home demonstration, Science Buddies’ Build A Vortex Cannon! uses disposable eight-ounce and 16-ounce cups, balloons, scissors, duct tape, a measuring tape, a pen and paper, and calls for an adult helper. Cut a circular opening in each cup, stretch a balloon over the top to make an airtight membrane, then pull and release the balloon knot.
To compare the two sizes, mark different firing distances and aim at a hanging strip of toilet paper. The strip gives a simple visible indication of whether a pulse reaches it. Science Buddies’ Amy Cowen also describes making a simple vortex air cannon from a balloon and plastic cup or recycled container in 12 STEM Activities for Lunar New Year, published January 29, 2026.
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Get clearer results and keep the demonstration safe
- Choose still air. A breeze can disrupt the vortex before it travels. Edwin Wise’s Make: article puts it plainly: “These cannons will work only in still air; a breeze will break up the vortex structure.”
- Use fog only to visualize airflow. Keep the demonstration to air and ordinary fog in a suitable, ventilated space; the fog is optional.
- Expect trade-offs, not a set range. The Make: author reports that faster, smaller vortices dissipate sooner than slower, larger ones. A large, slow ring can travel far in still, controlled conditions, but no guaranteed distance is given.
- Keep the outlet pointed at a harmless target. Do not use a vortex cannon to propel irritants, hazardous substances or flammable powders. Make: mentions such delivery only as a theoretical capability and cautions that exposure could affect the launcher as well as the target.
Purdue University’s College of Science lists a “From trash can to vortex cannon: toroidal vortex” item in its Science Shorts collection, supporting the use of “toroidal vortex” for this type of demonstration.
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