A falling stream of water will naturally break up into droplets via the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. Those droplets are random, unless something like vibration of the nozzle sets their size. In Keep reading
Tag: Plateau-Rayleigh instability
Breaking Compound Ligaments
When pulled, viscous liquids stretch into ligaments that thin and then break into droplets. In this video, researchers investigate how these ligaments break up, depending on their composition. The initial Keep reading
Paint Spinning
In a return to their roots, this Slow Mo Guys video features paint flowing on (and off!) a spinning disk. To help us see what’s going on, Gav uses a Keep reading
Animals Lapping
Without full cheeks, cats, dogs, and many other animals cannot use suction to drink. Instead, these animals press their tongue against a fluid and lift it rapidly to draw up Keep reading
“Starlit”
In “Starlit” filmmaker Roman De Giuli explores a universe in a fish tank. The planets and asteroids we see are droplets of paint and ink floating in a transparent, gel-like Keep reading
Spin Coating Capillary Tubes
To coat the interior of a capillary tube, you typically fill the tube with a viscous liquid, then pump air in to displace the liquid, leaving behind a thin film Keep reading
Droplets From Speaking
Illnesses like COVID-19 can spread through droplets and aerosols produced by coughing, sneezing, or even speaking. New research looks at how regular speech patterns produce a spray of droplets. Researchers Keep reading
Slow Mo Espresso
High-speed photography gives us an alternate glimpse of reality. Here it provides an all-new perspective on making espresso. Surface tension plays a starring role, first in pulling together the film Keep reading
Molten Thermite
This glowing, molten liquid captured by the Slow Mo Guys is thermite. The chemical reaction behind thermite is highly exothermic, hence its intense glow. There’s some great fluid dynamics hiding Keep reading
Breaking Up
The dripping of a faucet and the break-up of a jet into droplets is universal. That means that the forces – the inertia of the fluid, the capillary forces governed by surface Keep reading