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
Tag: Plateau-Rayleigh instability
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
Engineering Droplets
A jet of falling liquid doesn’t remain a uniform cylinder; instead, it breaks into droplets. In this video, Bill Hammack explores why this is and what engineers have learned to Keep reading
Using Sound to Print
Inkjet printing and other methods for directing and depositing tiny droplets rely on the force of gravity to overcome the internal forces that hold a liquid together. But that requires Keep reading
Spinning Droplet Galaxies
Water flung from a spinning tennis ball takes on a shape reminiscent of a spiral galaxy. As it detaches, water leaves the surface with both the tangential velocity of the Keep reading
Paint Balloons
The Slow Mo Guys have a history of personal sacrifice in the name of cool high-speed footage, and their Super Slow Show is no exception. In a recent segment, both Keep reading
The Fishbone
The simple collision of two liquid jets can form striking and beautiful patterns. Here the two jets strike one another diagonally near the top of the animation. One is slanted Keep reading
Oil Splatters
Most cooks have experienced the unpleasantness of getting splattered with hot oil while cooking. Here’s a closer look at what’s actually going on. The pan is covered by a thin Keep reading
Paintball Collisions
In their latest video, the Slow Mo Guys collide paintballs in mid-air, creating some pretty great paint splashes. The high-speed video does a nice job of revealing some of the Keep reading