Never Break the Chain

Pour water out of a bottle, and you’ll see a jet with a shape that resembles chain links. Sometimes known as a “liquid chain,” this phenomenon occurs when water pours through a non-circular hole. It’s quite a complex behavior, as shown in this recent study of the nonlinear effect. Even so, the authors found that the amplitude and wavelength of the chain’s sections are tied directly to the shape of the opening. Current models of the effect don’t account for the viscosity of the liquid, though, so future experiments will have to explore how fluids other than water behave. (Image and research credit: D. Jordan et al.; via APS Physics; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)