Blenders are versatile appliances that have a variety of uses in the

home, business and laboratory. Basically, a blender has a motor at

the bottom with a control panel that has several different speeds.

This motor drives a pitched blade that chops items that are put in the
blender. A tapered cylindrical pitcher with a lid attaches to the base.

The shape of the pitcher and the pitch of the blades create a kind of
tornadic action which circulates the contents and chops them to the
desired consistency. The pitcher has a lid that usually has a rubber
seal. This seal prevents any food from spraying out.

How it works
1. Let's see how it works. Suppose you drop a strawberry 聽 in the
blender. You push a button to start the blender, and the motor begins
to turn the blades. The circular whirring motion creates a vortex or a
spiral movement in the fluid. In the blender, the fluid includes both
liquid ingredients and air. The vortex causes a vacuum at the centre
of the jar, which pulls the strawberry toward the middle, much as a
tornado does.

2. As the strawberry combines with the other ingredients and begins

to liquify, the liquid follows the blade in a whirling motion around the
container, forming a well near its centre. The well in the centre of a
blender's vortex is shallow, so it displaces the contents as they're
drawn toward the axis at the centre of the blade.

3. The whirling motion and lack of space below the blades forces the
liquified strawberry up and on the sides. This circular pattern
continues, whipping air into the contents, which helps mix the
ingredients more quickly, until you stop the blender. The final result
is a frothy strawberry smoothie with a homogenised blend of
ingredients and a consistent texture.

BLENDER VS FOOD PROCESSOR

Food processors 聽 are appliances used for solid food, and blenders
are better for drinks. Most food processors operate at a single speed,
which is slower than a blender, but they have a pulse function that
gives you greater control over chopping, kneading and cutting. Food
processors aren't suited for crushing ice or making frozen drinks, and
blenders are still best for pureeing soups.

https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/know-tech/how-a-kitchen-
blender-works/story/184460.html

Science of Food Blenders

A blender is a kitchen and laboratory tool used to mix, puree, or emulsify food and other
substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender jar with a rotating metal blade at the bottom,
powered by an electric motor in the base, an immersion blender has a motor on top connected by a
shaft to a rotating blade at the bottom/ The immersion blender can be used with any container.

Steps Involved in Blending

For a blender to be effective the particles must be small enough so that the mixture will flow. The
first step of a blender is therefore cutting, smashing, chopping. The second step is the food must
begin to flow. Since it takes a lot of kinetic energy to break pieces down very small, the final size
in this step depends on the power of the blender. A lot of the kinetic energy from the fast-spinning
blades will cause the temperature of the mixture in the blender to rise through friction. 

At this point and another set of forces (See What is Cavitation, below) take over. A combination
of compressive shearing forces and cavitation that causes the blender to rip pieces of food into bits
so small that the end result is a smooth puree or a rich emulsion.
 Video by ChefSteps -- The Physics of Blending
-- Cavitation 

Blenders need a vortex to work ---

"A powerful shearing force drives circulation

by sucking liquid down from the top of the
pitcher and then violently flinging it out to the
sides. This motion creates large shear stresses,
which help break up the food, you will also see
tiny bubbles spinning off the blades. These
bubbles, formed by the pressure drop of fluid
accelerated over the arms of the blades, are the
cavitation bubbles. When they collapse, or
implode, they create localized shock waves that
further break up the blender’s contents". 

What is Cavitation in a Blender?

Cavitation is the formation of vapor cavities in a liquid – i.e. small liquid-cavitation-free zones
("bubbles" or "voids") – that are the consequence of cavitational forces acting upon the
cavitational liquid. It usually occurs when a liquid is subjected to rapid changes of pressure that
cause the formation of cavities in a region of low pressure. The bubbles, formed by the pressure
drop of fluid accelerated over the arms of the blades, are cavitation bubbles.

The physical process of cavitation inception is similar to boiling.

When subjected to higher pressure, the voids implode and can generate an intense shockwave.

Cavitation occurs when the local pressure in a liquid drops below the vapor pressure of the liquid,
causing the liquid to boil. A common situation where this can occur is in flow around propeller
blades. As a liquid is accelerated over propeller blades, the fluid pressure decreases in response to
the increase in fluid velocity (according to a relationship known as Bernoulli's principle). If the
flow reaches a high enough velocity, the pressure can be reduced enough to cause cavitation.
Bubbles that form as a result of cavitation have a much lower density than the surrounding liquid
and the ability of the propeller to generate thrust suffers. Additionally, when the bubbles move to
regions of higher fluid pressure, they will collapse and the force of collapse can damage the
propeller surface.

Cavitation is very powerful. Just a few imploding bubbles can cause glass to shatter. For that
reason newer more powerful blenders no longer use glass for the container. See the video above
that shows this effect.

In the case of a propeller or blade such as found in a blender the rotating blade will cause the fluid
to accelerate in the axial direction, so that the fluid that has passed through the blade moves at a
higher speed than that which is below the blade.
In fluid dynamics, a vortex is a region, in a fluid medium, in which the flow is mostly rotating on
an axis line.

The vortex causes a vacuum at the center of the jar, which pulls the ingredients toward the middle
and down into the blade. 

A vortex is required for blenders to

work properly. According to
America’s Test Kitchen, a good vortex
is formed when the blender’s blades
have a “wingspan” that comes close to
the sides of the blending jar.

Shown to left are the blades found in

the Vitamix Vita-Prep-3

https://www.scienceofcooking.com/science-of-food-blenders.html

How Food Processors

Work
A food processor is a versatile kitchen appliance that can quickly and
easily chop, slice, shred, grind, and puree almost any food. Some
models can also assist the home cook in making citrus and vegetable
juice, beating cake batter, kneading bread dough, beating egg whites,
and grinding meats and vegetables.

The food processor was introduced to the North American market in

1973 by engineer Carl Sontheimer, who had spent a year adapting a
French industrial blender for the home cook. It took a few years for
consumers to realize how useful the new appliance could be, but once
they did, the food processor became a bestseller. Sontheimer's
invention revolutionized food preparation in home kitchens around the
world.

In this article, we'll learn about food processors and how to use them to
perform common kitchen tasks. We'll also walk you through an easy
recipe for your food processor.

The Basic Components

Modern food processors come in three basic sizes: full, compact, and
mini. No matter what size they are, however, the basic components are
the same: a motor, a bowl with a lid and feed tube, and a set of
attachments.

The motor is housed in the base of the appliance, and it is the heaviest
part of the device. Full-size machines generally have larger, more
powerful motors, and can weigh more than 20 lbs (9 kg). This weight
has a utilitarian value: The heaviness of the base gives the appliance
stability and ensures that it doesn't move around while the motor is
running. Though the first food processor bases were clad only in white,
hard plastic, today they are available in a range of stylish colors and
with metal and plastic finishes, ensuring that your appliance will fit in
with your kitchen decor.

From the motor, a shaft extends upward to power the attachments. The
bowl, which is usually made of durable, transparent plastic, fits onto this
shaft and locks into position. The lid, usually made of the same material,
locks onto the top of the bowl; in many older models, engaging the
locking mechanism turns on the motor, but newer models generally
have an on/off switch or button.

The lid has a feed tube fitted with a plunger. You can insert food into the
device through this feed tube, pushing it down with the plunger. Some
models have wider and narrower feed tubes for use with larger and
smaller food items. The size of the bowl varies according to the size of
the machine:

 Full-size bowls generally have a capacity of 9 to 13 cups.

 Compact-size bowls can accommodate 5 to 7 cups.
 Mini-size bowls can fit 2 to 5 cups.

blender vs. a food processor?

A blender is typically better for liquids and is used to create things like
smoothies, while a food processor is used for more labor-intensive
tasks, such as mixing dough or slicing vegetables. Of course, some
blenders are powerful enough to handle the tasks meant for a food
processor (and vice versa). For now, however, let’s just take a look at the
basic differences between a blender and a food processor.

If you’ve ever shopped for a food processor, you’ve probably noticed a

long list of the appliance’s skills on the package, including chopping,
slicing, shredding, mixing, and pureeing. While blenders have become
more capable over the years, they still don’t do much more than blend.
Sure, a powerful blender will crush ice, and top-of-the-line blenders like
the Vitamix 5200 are capable of making everything from ice cream to
nut butter, but your typical blender isn’t going to be able to handle the
number of tasks that a food processor can.

Recipe Blender Food Processor

 Soups and purees Best Capable

Smoothies Best No

Dips Capable Best

Butters Not ideal Best

Chopped vegetables No Best

Baking (dough and crust) No Capable

Shredded cheeses No Best

As you can see in the chart above, there’s a considerable amount of

crossover between the two appliances. However, they both excel at
different tasks.

Blenders, for instance, are typically built with features that make them
ideal for making soups, purees, and smoothies. While some blenders
have easy-to-pour reservoirs, others are made so that you can drink out
of the same cylinder that you use to make your smoothie. Blenders tend
to handle liquids much better than food processors.

The NutriBullet Pro, for example, can whip up a nutritious smoothie with ease. While
we wouldn’t recommend it as the best appliance for making all of your butters and
breads, it is powerful enough to grind up nuts, veggies, and other potential smoothie
ingredients.

Food processors, on the other hand, are ideal for more labor-intensive tasks, like
making dough. Food processors have wide mixing bowls — which make it easy to
add in ingredients — and typically come with various attachments, giving you the
ability to slice carrots, shred cheese, or mix dough.
The Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Food Processor is a good example of what you should
expect from this type of appliance. It has a large mixing bowl, a pulse setting,
multiple speeds, and blade attachments for slicing, shredding, and chopping. It also
comes with a “bowl scraper,” an attachment that automatically scrapes sticky dough
and batter from the walls of the bowl.

Whereas a food processor is a great tool for bakers, a blender is a great choice for
someone who likes a liquid lunch (either cocktails or smoothies). But what if you
want both? There used to be a pretty clear line between blenders and food processors,
but that isn’t the case anymore. It’s not uncommon for high-end blenders to be sold
with multiple attachments, which gives them the ability to tackle a number of extra
tasks. The recipe book for the Vitamix 5200, for instance, includes smoothies, nut
butters,  bread dough, cocktails, and cake mixes.

So what appliance is right for you? Simply speaking, a blender is a better option for
items with a lot of liquid, like smoothies and soups, and a food processor is a beast at
handling thicker items like dough and butter. However, since the line between food
processor and blender has, well, blended, you can find high-end appliances that
handle both tasks admirably.