Below a temperature of 2.17 Kelvin, helium becomes a superfluid, a state of matter boasting several unique properties including zero viscosity (resistance to flow). In this video, scientists demonstrate that property. When they pull the glass “bucket” of helium out at 2:50, the helium starts to leak out. The glass is solid but it contains numerous tiny spaces between its atoms. In its normal state, the viscosity of helium prevents it from escaping through those holes. But as a superfluid, its resistance to flowing goes to zero and it leaks right through the solid glass.
Tag: superfluid
Superfluid Dripping
This high-speed video shows superfluid helium dripping and breaking up. Although superfluid has no viscosity, this does not prevent the Plateau-Rayleigh instability from breaking the helium into droplets once the mass of the liquid is too great for surface tension to contain.
Superfluids
Cooling helium down to 2 Kelvin creates a superfluid, a special type of fluid that exhibits some bizarre properties. Superfluids have zero viscosity, meaning that they are frictionless, and infinite thermal conductivity, which means that any temperature changes are immediate throughout the fluid.