Making a splash (Feb 1)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/9/2/1
Everyone has seen water droplets splash off a surface but this
phenomenon is more complicated than it first appears, as recent
experiments at the University of Chicago have demonstrated. Not
surprisingly, the experiments show that the viscosity of the liquid
plays a critical role, but so does the pressure and molecular weight of
the gas that the drop falls through (L Xu et al. 2005
arXiv.org/abs/physics/0501149). The results could be relevant in
applications such ink-jet printing and the combustion of liquid fuels.
.
|
