School science day - dd2 wants to perform ...

[earlgrey]

... but what's it called when you fill a beaker from a bowl of water, lift the beaker out of the water upside down but still partly submerged in the bowl, and the water in the beaker remains at a higher level than the level in the bowl, iyswim?

Air pressure. The pressure of the outside air on the water in the bowl keeps it up. if I recall correctly, normal atmospheric pressure could hold up about 30 feet of water visions of daughter with very, very large beaker or two feet of mercury.

Good luck to your daughter!

Thank you, er, PIS

You don't have a link to anything by any chance, do you? TIA