Celebrating the physics of all that flows
Respiratory diseases like measles, flu, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 are all transmitted by droplets. Some are tiny and airborne, capable of traveling long distances. Other drops are larger and only capable Keep reading
As a child, I always loved watching rain on the windows as I rode in the car. Hemispherical droplets got stretched by the wind flowing over them. But they never Keep reading
With small droplets, gravity usually has little effect compared to surface tension. An evaporating water droplet holds its spherical shape as it evaporates. But the story is different when you Keep reading
When droplets get larger than 0.27 cm, they no longer stay spherical as they fall. Here, researchers look at very large droplets (equivalent to 3.06 cm in diameter) falling into Keep reading
Drops of ethanol on a heated surface contract and self-propel as they evaporate. My first thought upon seeing this was of Leidenfrost drops, but the surface is not nearly hot Keep reading
Over the past few years, we’ve seen lots of research in walking droplets, especially as hydrodynamic quantum analogs. But did you know you can replicate this set-up at home and Keep reading
A droplet falling on a liquid bath may, if slow enough, rebound off the surface. Its impact sends out a string of ripples — capillary waves — on the bath’s Keep reading
Marangoni bursting takes place in alcohol-water droplets; as the alcohol evaporates, surface tension changes across the liquid surface, generating a flow that tears the original drop into smaller droplets. Here Keep reading
Droplets infused with particles — like coffee — can leave complex stains once they evaporate. Here researchers show the complex cracking pattern that develops as a droplet with nanoparticles evaporates. Keep reading