When a drop settles gently against a pool of the same liquid, it will coalesce. The process is not always a complete one, though; sometimes a smaller droplet breaks away Keep reading
Tag: coalescence
Why Sea Foams
Seawater froths and foams in ways that freshwater rarely does. A new study pinpoints the ocean’s electrolytes as the reason bubbles resist merging there. By studying the final moments before Keep reading
“Iridescent”
Soft colors and sudden coalescence combine in this short film from Susi Sie’s team. The visuals rely on liquid lenses (likely oil) floating atop a water bath. You can see Keep reading
“Titan”
Saturn’s moon Titan is a fascinating foil to our planet. It’s the only other body in our solar system with liquid bodies — lakes and seas — on its surface. Keep reading
Merging Along Wires
As oil slides down two slowly converging wires, the droplets will merge into a sheet that stretches between both wires. When this happens can vary somewhat but occurs somewhere around Keep reading
Coalescence Symmetry
When droplets coalesce, they perform a wiggly dance, gyrating as the capillary waves on their surface interfere. When the droplets have matching surface tensions, like the two water droplets in Keep reading
Triple Leidenfrost Effect
Droplets can skitter across a hot surface on a layer of their own vapor, thanks to the Leidenfrost effect. If two Leidenfrost droplets of the same liquid collide, they merge Keep reading
Spreading By Island
How does a droplet sinking through an immiscible liquid settle onto a surface? Conventional wisdom suggests that the settling drop will slowly squeeze the ambient fluid film out of the Keep reading
“Beyond the Horizon”
Shifting bubbles and psychedelic colors abound in this abstract video from artist Rus Khasanov. He provides no specifics as to the materials he uses for this video, but my guess Keep reading
Falling Beads
Liquids flowing down a fiber can form bead-like droplets that may sit symmetrically (a) or asymmetrically (b) on the fiber. In general, the asymmetric droplets appear as surface tension increases Keep reading