If you’ve ever wondered how fluid dynamicists create those tiny perpetually bouncing droplets they study, wonder no further. A typical method, shown here, is to use a simple toothpick. First, you take a shallow container of silicone oil and vibrate it vertically. Then you dip the tip of the toothpick into the oil and pull it out, stretching the oil into a long filament. When it detaches from the toothpick, a droplet will start to form at the tip of the filament as it falls back toward the pool. But the bouncing of the surface is enough to keep the new drop from coalescing back into the pool, leaving the little drop to bounce along on its liquid trampoline. (Image credit: S. Lapointe)
Making Droplets
