Tea lovers have long been frustrated by the tendency of liquid jets to adhere to solid surfaces – the so-called teapot effect that makes the last vestiges of every pour drip down the spout. By investigating the effect with vertical rods, researchers found that, at low enough flow rates, a liquid jet is able to adhere completely, forming a liquid helix that coils around the rod. The authors were also able to construct a mathematical model to capture the behavior. They concluded that both the wettability of a surface and the curvature of the solid are critical to determining whether or not a liquid jet will stick. (Image and research credit: E. Jambon-Puillet et al.; via APS Physics; submitted by Kam-Yung Soh)
Tag: wettability
Evaporation and Surface Effects
Surface properties can have surprising effects on fluid behavior. This image shows the evaporation of several droplets over time. All of the initial droplets are of the same volume, but they are placed on a surface which is a) superhydrophobic, b) hydrophobic, or c) hydrophilic. The more hydrophobic the surface, the larger the initial contact angle between the droplet and surface and the smaller the wetted area of the surface. Yet despite this seemingly large surface area exposure to air, the droplet on the superhydrophobic surface is the slowest to evaporate. (Photo credit: C. Choi)
Hydrophobic Water Entry
Many factors can affect the size and shape of the splash when an object impacts water and wettability–the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with a solid–is one of them. Here a sphere coated in a hydrophobic (water-repellent) nano-layer impacts water, creating a large air, streaky air cavity and a substantial splash. Contrast this with the behavior of a hydrophilic sphere entering the water, and you can imagine divers might want to invest in some hydrophilic coatings prior to the London Olympics. (Video credit: L. Bocquet et al)
