A viscous bubble wrinkles when it collapses, and scientists long assumed this behavior was caused by gravity. But a new experiment shows that the buckling is, instead, driven by surface Keep reading
Tag: wrinkling
Wriggling Threads
A thread of mineral oil laid across a pool of water twists and turns like a river run wild. Because the oil has a lower surface tension than the water, Keep reading
Wrinkling Drops
When a viscous drop falls into a pool of a less viscous liquid, the drop can deform into some beautiful and complex shapes. Typically, shear forces between the drop and Keep reading
Wrinkling Winds
If you’ve ever sat out on a lake and just watched the water’s surface, you’ve probably noticed how complex and variable it looks. There may be waves that rock your Keep reading
Self-Wrapping Drops
A liquid drop can fold itself up in a thin sheet. The animation above shows a drop of water with an ultra-thin (79nm) circular sheet of polystyrene atop it. As Keep reading
Falling Atop Sheets
A sphere falling into water is a classic problem in fluid dynamics, but scientists are becoming increasingly interested in what happens when they introduce new dimensions to the problem. Here Keep reading
Crown Splash Sealing
A sphere falling into water generates a spectacular crown splash at the surface. The object’s impact ejects a thin sheet of fluid that rises vertically. The air pulled down into Keep reading