We’ve seen many forms of Leidenfrost effect — that wild, near-frictionless glide that liquid droplets make on a very hot surface — over the years, but here’s a new one: Keep reading
Tag: Leidenfrost effect
Volcanic Shocks
A violent underwater eruption at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai caldera on January 15th sent literal shock waves around the world. This animation, based on satellite images from Japan’s Himawari 8, 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
The Best of FYFD 2020
2020 was certainly a strange year, and I confess that I mostly want to congratulate all of us for making it through and then look forward to a better, happier, Keep reading
Leidenfrost on Water
When a skillet is hot enough, water droplets will skitter across the surface almost frictionlessly thanks to the Leidenfrost effect. The incredibly high temperature of the surface relative the the liquid’s Keep reading
Digging Droplets
A droplet on a surface much hotter than its boiling point will skate on a layer of its own vapor, thanks to the Leidenfrost effect. But if that surface is, Keep reading
A Hand in Hot Oil
In this video, Dianna from Physics Girl demonstrates a feat no one should try at home: dipping her hand into boiling oil. To stay safe, she’s relying on the Leidenfrost Keep reading
The Vortex Beneath a Drop
While we’re most used to seeing levitating Leidenfrost droplets on a solid surface, such drops can also form above a liquid bath. In fact, the smoothness of the bath’s surface, Keep reading
Mixing Leidenfrost Drops
When placed on a very hot, patterned surface, droplets will self-propel on a layer of their own vapor. Here, researchers use this to drive droplets to coalesce so that they Keep reading
Leidenfrost Stars
Atop a very hot surface, liquids can instantly vaporize, leaving a drop levitating on a layer of its own vapor. These Leidenfrost droplets demonstrate all kinds of interesting behaviors, including self-propulsion, explosion, and star-shaped Keep reading