Nearly everyone has struggled with the frustration of trying to get ketchup, toothpaste, or peanut butter out of a container. These fluids and fluid-like substances are notoriously difficult to budge Keep reading
Tag: adhesion
How Dogs and Cats Drink
We humans do our hands-free drinking via suction, using the shape of our lips and mouths to create low pressure that draws liquids in. Dogs and cats, on the other Keep reading
Spinning Paint
Fluid dynamical behaviors are often the result of competing forces. Here paint flung from a spinning rod illustrates the effects of adhesion, surface tension, and centrifugal force. In general, surface Keep reading
Inside a Water Blob
This new video from the Space Station shows once again that astronauts have the most fun job on–or off–the planet. In it, the Expedition 40 crew members submerge a GoPro Keep reading
Meandering Rivulet
This rivulet is the result of a horizontal liquid jet impacting a vertical pane of glass. Gravity, surface tension, adhesion, and even surface finish can affect the path the water Keep reading
How Patterns Repel Water
Superhydrophobic surfaces repel water. Both naturally occurring and manmade materials with this property share a common feature: micro- or nanoscale structures on their surface. Lotus and lily leaves are coated Keep reading
How Dogs Drink
This high-speed footage shows how a dog drinks. The dog’s tongue curls backwards, creating a large area of surface contact with the water. When the dog pulls its tongue back Keep reading
“Compressed 02”
This timelapse video shows the spreading of food coloring and a ferrofluid through soap suds surrounding a magnet. Capillary action, the same force that enables sap to flow up through Keep reading