In yesterday’s post, photographer Ernie Button showed us that barrel-aged gin can leave behind an evaporation pattern remarkably similar to scotch whisky. But even among whiskys not every spirit uses Keep reading
Tag: deposition
Vanishing Spirits: Gin
Photographer Ernie Button has spent years exploring the patterns left by evaporating scotch. A team of researchers found that the uniformity of scotch whisky’s stain requires three ingredients: alcohol to Keep reading
Blooming Deposits
Evaporate a droplet full of silica nanoparticles, and you’ll get beautiful, flower-like films. As the water evaporates, dry nanoparticles build up in a solid deposit. The evaporation creates a pressure Keep reading
Sublimation
Sublimation is a transition directly from a solid phase to a gaseous one. Given typical Earth atmospheric conditions, one of the most commonly observed examples of sublimation is that of Keep reading
Martian Barchans
Dunes are a fascinating interplay between fluid and granular flow. This satellite photo shows a dune field on Mars, Nili Patera. The dominant direction of wind flow is from the Keep reading
Self-Assembly via Evaporation
When working at the microscale, engineering structures like those used for drug delivery systems requires ingenuity. Since it isn’t possible to manipulate particles manually, researchers harness physical effects to do Keep reading
Reader Question: Frosty Cars
Reader Mike L asks: Why do I never see frost on my car when I park in a detached garage or under a carport? Great question! Frost forms on surfaces Keep reading
How Coffee Rings Form
Coffee rings (an ubiquitous feature of academia) are formed by the deposition of particles as the liquid evaporates. When a coffee drop evaporates, capillary action draws the coffee particles toward Keep reading