Ethanol droplets on a hot copper plate bounce under the influence of electrostatic forces from a charged rod. The temperature of the plate is high enough that the droplet is Keep reading
Month: January 2025
Polygonal Jumps
Hydraulic jumps occur when a fast-moving fluid enters a region of slow-moving fluid and transfers its kinetic energy into potential energy by increasing its elevation. For a steady falling jet, Keep reading
Spray Starch
High speed video of of spray starch from a can. Once the initial transients die down, a cone-shaped annular sheet forms. Disturbances propagate in the sheet, tearing it into filaments Keep reading
Dynamic Leidenfrost Impact
The Leidenfrost effect occurs when a liquid encounters a solid object much hotter than the liquid’s boiling point, like when water skitters on a hot griddle or someone plunges a Keep reading
The Archer Fish’s Arrows
The archer fish hunts by shooting a jet of water at insects in the leaves above and knocking them into the water. How the fish achieve this feat has been Keep reading
Rebounding
A ping pong ball bounces off a puddle, drawing a liquid column upward behind it. This photo shows the instant after the fluid has disconnected from the ball, allowing it Keep reading
Following a Breaking Wave
It’s fascinating to sit on the beach and watch the waves roll in and break, but rarely do we get a view like the one in this video. Here researchers Keep reading
Peering Inside the Kettle
Here natural convection is explored experimentally in a quasi-2D environment. The researchers demonstrate how this phenomenon, which is much like that seen in a boiling pot, can be investigated by measuring Keep reading
“Surface Tension”
From a series called “Surface Tension,” these ink and water drawings by Marguerite French explore the effects of diffusion, surface tension, and evaporation. The forms left by the thin layer Keep reading
Cavitation in a Bottle
Sudden changes in the pressure or temperature in a liquid can create bubbles in a process known as cavitation. Underwater explosions are just one of the ways to induce cavitation Keep reading