Tears of wine are caused by the Marangoni effect, in which a gradient in surface tension causes mass flow. The water in the wine has a higher surface tension than the alcohol in the wine, causing the wine to be drawn away from regions of higher alcohol concentration. #
Tag: fluids as art
Morpho Towers
Artists Sachiko Kodama and Yasushi Miyajima use ferrofluids and magnetic fields to create their “Morpho Towers – Two Standing Spirals” artwork. Ferrofluids are formed from a suspension of ferrous material in a oil or water and are a popular subject for fluid dynamics as art. You can even make your own ferrofluid at home. (via ageekmom)
Water Balloon Photography
Photographer Edward Horsford uses high-speed photography to capture water balloons as they burst. On Earth, of course, gravity wins over surface tension, but the results are very different in microgravity. See the technical description for how Horsford gets his shots and look at more of his work on Flickr. (via NPR)
Canon Sound Sculptures
In a new series of ads for Canon, colorful paints are placed on a speaker cone and filmed at high speed to create beautiful “sound sculptures”. Paint, like oobleck, is a non-Newtonian fluid but does not react the same when excited by sound because it is shear-thinning. (When painting, you want the paint to run off the brush easily but not drip when it’s on the wall; hence, shear-thinning.) Both the photos and videos are lovely examples of fluid mechanics as art. Watch how they did it. # (Via jshoer, @ftematt, @JetForMe)
Wingtip Vortices in Ground Effect
In this flow visualization, wingtip vortices from an aircraft have been simulated using an apparatus with a couple of flaps that snap together like a book closing. Dye is pooled on the “ground” below the flaps and gets entrained by the vortices and lit up using laser light. The red vortices are the primary vortex generated by the aircraft wingtips and the green ones are secondary vortices generated by interaction with the ground. The lower half of the picture is a reflection off the ground. This photo was part of the 2009 Gallery of Fluid Motion. #
Bubble Art
Bubbles are all about surface tension and minimizing energy. Arrange things just right and you can even make square ones. (via JetForMe)
Tempus II
While not strictly fluid mechanical Philip Heron’s Tempus II features some great slow-motion action of fluids. (Submitted by @ftematt)
Ferrofluid Art
Magnetism and fluid dynamics collide with ferrofluids! Ferrofluids are a suspension of ferrous material in oil or water, but their behavior around magnets can elevate them into a work of art (or a car commercial). Why leave it to professionals, though, when you can make your own ferrofluid?
Liquid Umbrella
Droplet collisions, usually with water or milk, are popular with photographers for their artistic value. As stunning as these still images are, high-speed video makes the effect even better.
Photo credit; See also: Liquid sculpture and Flickr
