to ask non-scientists how they think snow globes work....

[M3lon]

...and what would happen if there was no water or air in the globe with the glitter.

All for a good cause I promise!

Well there is glycerin in the snow globe so that the glitter/snow didn’t fall too quickly as to you other questions I don’t have a clue!

The glitter is dislodged by the force of you shaking it and then falls back to the bottom.

If there was no water then the glitter wouldn’t be suspended and would just fall wherever gravity dictated.

If there was no air then the water wouldn’t be able to slosh around and force movement of the glitter. (?)

When you say no air, do you mean a vacuum?

yep - in a vacuum...

already interesting answers! Thank you!

Water and something like oil or glycerin means that the glitter / plastic / whatever that is agitated by shaking settles slowly. If there was no air in the globe it would presumably be a vacuum right? So the water would boil?

What's the cause?

No water, I guess it would drop straight to the ground/ whatever edge you put as the bottom.
No air - a vacuum? Can it even be a vacuum if there's stuff in there? I don't think anything could move.
Water but no air, I think you couldn't move the water easily, or at all.

All guesses - I'm very much not a scientist!

I’m not a very clever person. If there was no water or air I assume the glitter would just fall straight to the top and straight back down again, like sand.

If there was a vacuum wouldn't the glitter be stuck to the sides and not fall about?

To clarify - I am asking what would happen if there was no air or water in the globe, only the glitter.

and no that wouldn't be a perfect vacuum because of the glitter....but a reasonable vacuum.

I'm really grateful for all the comments - I'll certainly post a scientific version once people have had their say.

You need a pocket of air for things to move around? Not sure what would happen in a vacuum to be honest. Would the snow stick to the edge?

No water, obviously the snow would just move around whichever way you shake it.

If in a vacuum, would the glitter even move at all within the globe? Other than to obey the external laws of gravity... so sliding to whichever side faced the floor if you tilted or shook the globe (for example)? Or would it even move that much if no air to easily fill the space?

I hope you're going to come back and tell us!

pat I promise I will!

If there was no air then the glitter would stick to the side of the globe, like when a welly won’t come off your foot because of lack of air.

How snowglobes currently work:
Glitter is light and falls though slowly due to the resistance of - like goggles would fall slowly in a pool

How snowglobes would work if they were a vacuum:
Um, I think nothing would happen, the glitter would stay still. Not sure why though.

What excited said.

I'm with Pat, in a vacuum the glitter would obey gravity, or any other force applied by shaking the globe. Surely with just air, it would do the same?

The glitter would just obey gravity (or the force of the shaking), so rattle about, then fall straight down when the shaking stops. It wouldn't float about like a spaceman, that's for sure.

Gravity still exists in a vacuum, so I guess if you flipped the snow globe over the glitter would all fall straight down? I think it would basically work the same as normal but quicker! Definitely not a scientist though so not confident

If it were in a vacuum, I wouldn't expect the glitter to move even when shaken.

Something to do with pressurisation, I think.

might be talking out my arse

Well they work because they are billed with a very slightly viscous liquid that suspends the glitter, the liquid keeps spinning inside the globe for a while therefore so does the glitter. Once the water is still the glitter drops to the bottom.

Glitter in a vacuum. Interesting thing to ponder! Can static build up in a vacuum? If so a certain amount will stick to the sides. The rest will fall a lot faster than if you poured glitter normally as there wouldn't be any air resistance.

Really appreciate these ideas!

In a vacuum, the glitter will simply travel to the place with the largest gravitational well. You'd get a clump.

If there was no water the glitter would stick to sides? No idea about a vacuum? It would probably do some weird shit but not sure what?