Swirling or stirring - what's the difference

Forgive me for asking such a silly sounding question. But, is there a difference when mixing instructions say to swirl and I stir, or vice versa?

With all the pool tests I've ever used, the goal is just to get it mixed. Maybe if you've got some sort of unusually test that depends on precipitation, it would matter whether you stirred instead of swirling. But I haven't seen anything like that with consumer (or even dealer) level pool testing.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

Ah, but when mixing drinks it's critical to chill the drink evenly without watering it down to much.

Thus:

"Shaken, not stirred!"--James Bond

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

With all the pool tests I've ever used, the goal is just to get it mixed. Maybe if you've got some sort of unusually test that depends on precipitation, it would matter whether you stirred instead of swirling. But I haven't seen anything like that with consumer (or even dealer) level pool testing.

Ben
"PoolDoc"

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Thanks. The only thing I can think of maybe is contamination (from a previous test, etc.) skewing the test in progress. My wife likes to use a little wooden stick to mix, and I prefer the swirl.

laboratory procedure would be to swirl or to use a magnetic stirrer while the titrant is being added. Some pool stores do use magnetic stirrers. It's just faster. If you swirl be sure to do it for 10 to 30 seconds between drops for good mixing. Manual stirring is probably not much faster, magnetic stirrers spin pretty fast and will create a vortex in the liquid similar to a blender.