The Science of Vacuum Cleaners - How They Remove The Dirt

[@VacuumFacts]

I'm still amazed the detailed physics and mathematics associated with these machines has never been discussed in full before anywhere on the internet. If you search for ‘physics of the vacuum cleaner’ and related terms, you get vague cosmetic jobs that don’t do it justice, or that’s disguised, self-serving marketing by companies looking for your money. But why did it take me to fill it? I find it amazing that such a huge gaping hole was left unfilled for so long. I suspect it’s because it’s actually extremely difficult to fill it (I know because I just did), and you need to be educated in the science-which in fairness, is fairly GCSE level (…maybe A-level). That in itself is a point worth reflecting on. There's supposedly an entire ‘vacuum enthusiast’ community out there. My encounters with them have been unpleasant, on the whole, and they’ve been bullish and aggressive if you say something they don’t like-even if it’s a fact. But it’s clear their interest in these machines is mostly trivially cosmetic and facile-not to mention disturbingly tribal-and definitely explains their behaviour. This is even more apparent since most of the myths and nonsense I’ve come across are clearly memetically propagated amongst that community (examples linked in the video description). In fairness, you can see the origins of much of the nonsense root in the deceptive marketing ploys of some particularly pernicious, regressively capitalist companies out there that just want your cash above all else, that many seem to lack the capability to spot. Examples of common marketing deceptions are provided in the video description link. I hope this lecture provides the substance apparently missing out there, and throughout an entire community seemingly derelict of core knowledge and helps neutralise the nonsense promulgated instead. I’m only sorry I didn’t produce it earlier.

[@SiXX5150]

Fantastic presentation. I cannot imagine how much work you put in to this, but just want to say thank you. People can debate their vacuum preferences all day long, but math & physics will always be consistent and you nailed it. Cheers!

[@VacuumFacts]

It was several weeks' of work over several months (hence no videos in 2024). Although I've been discussing it for years in comments. The one video I've always wanted to make is now out there. Facts are facts, like them or not. All the common myths that flew in the face of 250-year-old science are now busted; any further appearance of them will reflect badly on the source.

[@SiXX5150]

@@VacuumFacts Absolutely. It always cracks me up when people attempt to pass personal preferences off as facts. You’ve done a great job explaining the science, physics, and math behind it in very simple to understand ways. Again - thank you!

[@josefrogoschewsky6458]

Wow - this was so well made and detailed, I learned a lot, it really made me rethink about what I thought I knew about the physics of vacuums clearing, Very impressive video.

[@VacuumFacts]

I wanted to do it years ago but I knew it was going to be a lot of work and kept putting it off because I'm otherwise very busy doing more meaningful work. It's done now and will likely always be my greatest video. I may do updated editions in the future with corrections and updates etc. if necessary.

[@Xenon777_]

Very informative and comprehensive video. I've never seen anything like this on KZbin before. Some of the best vacuum tests I've seen come from Dyson’s lab, where they use a machine to move the vacuum at a consistent pace, ensuring fair comparisons. Not to mention everything else they do. Recently, I saw a KZbin channel testing a pair of vacuums and doing the infamous sand test. The people using the vacuums were flailing the cleaner heads around with no real order or consistency (even crossing over the taped on boundary). They were also pressing down on the main body of the vacuums at times, using two hands for some reason. When I pointed out the lack of consistency, they replied with 'Vacuuming speed won't affect pickup, especially since we're doing multiple passes.' What do I know!

[@VacuumFacts]

While there are many lectures out there, none directly address this area in detail. So yes, I may have done something unique, which is a rarity on social media. Yes, those robots they use to test are part of the criteria to follow the industry standards (which they also comission to have independently verified). Yes, YT is full of nonsense and this video is the direct response to all that, so feel free to link all over the place and cite away.

[@MamdouhAhmed]

Great video! The chapters aren't displayed on YT's UI, I think it's because of the formatting specifically the colon after the timestamp, I think you need to remove these colons.

[@VacuumFacts]

Oh right, yeah it was the colons. Great coding by YT there.

[@2711marcus]

I like the rotating disc 😊 Where did this come from Johnny? Is this a Dyson design for future models?

[@VacuumFacts]

I didn’t dare say the naughty word "Dyson" in the video for fear of losing my head. But yes. They're the only ones advancing technology in this way, naturally. Their new inertial separator to replace the old, first stage bin cyclone and shroud design that’s been used for years-and that everyone has copied now-is amazing and likely in the next product in a few months (probably…I may be wrong). I discussed that in this video too. The next product also looks to have a completely new type of floor head with two cantilevered all-floor cones. It’s called the Konical, I think, based on registered trademarks in the public domain. It detangles like the hair screw but is a main floor head and eliminates the naff hair comb idea Shark had in products first and many others have now. And the suggestion that it’s all floor cones implies they’re doing away with the fluffy, finally, and the need to swap heads, combining the two. The new product also variably uses cyclones. In low power modes when air currents are lower, air only goes through half of them. This keeps speed high within the cyclones and filters better at lower power modes. In boost, a valve opens and all cyclones are used, since there’s more air current and only half the cyclones would introduce too much air resistance and slow air down. It looks like a very different kind of cleaner and a major advancement. The rotating disc will likely be their replacement for cyclones for physical reasons stated in the video (and the previous video I did over a year ago, “Beyond the cyclone” kzbin.info/www/bejne/oojTlX5oaJmLnLc ). They've been working on it for years, so it's presumably tricky to get to work. I proposed in this video that they could use both. I'm sure they know all this though. It may even be that the inertial separator is coming first to get around patents, since an ancient vacuum cleaner did patent a rotating disc separator but only used it after a cyclone (and it was fairly crude). I wouldn’t be surprised if they replaced cyclones in the version after this next one and introduced the new steady-state batteries, but this is just speculation. Everyone else just copies with a crude clone which doesn’t work as well.

[@2711marcus]

Will be interesting to see what's coming 😊